ColHinWa  ®nttirr^ttp 


LIBRARY 


A  CAREFUL  AND  FREE  INQIJ 


INTO  THE 


n  .  .  .  . 


TRUE  NATURE  AND  TENDENCY 


OF  THE 


OF  THE 

consnaoiTLir  called  Quakers. 

IN  TWO  PARTS. 


1.  The  history  of  their  opinions  :  the  rise  I  II.  Dissertations  on  their  doctrinal 

and  iirogress  of  the  society,  |      tenets,  their  worship,  ministry,  &c.  /         \ 


By  WILLIAM  CRAIG  BROWNLEE,  A.  M, 

MINISTER  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 


Suis-je  seul  ?  Je  me  plais  encore  au  coin  du  feu." 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED  BY  JOHN  MORTIMER. 
.T.  hahding,  printer. 

1824. 


Eastern  District  of  Fennsijlvavia,  to  wit . 

HE  IT  RKMKN^BERKD,  that  on  the  twelfth  day  of  January,  in  the  forty- 
eighth  year  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America,  A.  D.  1824, 
John  Mortimer,  of  the  said  District,  hath  deposited  in  this  office  the  Title  of  a 
Book,  the  right  whereof  he  claims  as  Proprietor,  in  the  words  following,  to 
wit  : — 

A  careful  and  free  inquiry  into  the  tnie  Nature  and  Tendency  of  the  Religious 
Principles  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  commonly  called  Quakers.     In  two 
Parts. 
I.  The  Histoiy  of  their  Opinions.     The  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Society. 
n.  Dissertations  on  their  Doctrinal  Tenets,  their  Worship,  Ministry,  &;c. 
B}  William  Craig  Brownlee,  A.  M.  Minister  of  the  Gospel. 
"  S  lis-je  seul  ?  Je  me  plais  encore  au  coire  du  feu." 

In  conformity  to  the  act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  intituled,  "  An 
Act  for  the  Encouragement  of  Learning,  by  securing  the  Copies  of  Maps, 
Charts,  and  Books,  to  the  Authors  and  Proprietors  of  such  Copies,  during  the 
times  therein  mentioned;" — And  also  to  the  Act,  entitled,  "An  Act  supple- 
mentary to  an  Act,  entitled,  "  An  \ct  for  the  Encouragement  of  Learning,  by 
securing  the  Copies  of  Maps,  Charts,  and  Books,  to  the  Authors  and  Proprietors 
of  such  Copies  during  the  times  therein  mentioned,"  and  extending  the  bene- 
fits thereof  to  the  Arts  of  designing,  engraving,  and  etching  historical  and 
other  prints. 

D.  CALDWELL, 
Clerk  of  the  Eastern  District  ofFemisi/kania. 


TO  JAMES  JEFFRAY,  ESQ.  M.  B. 

PROFESSOR  OF  ANATOMY  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  GLASGOW. 

SIR, 

The  affection  of  a  brother  had  dedicated  this  volume 
(in  manuscript,)  to  the  late  lamented  Reverend  James  Brownlee 
of  Falkirk. 

But  he  was  cut  off  in  his  ministerial  career,  hterally  in  the  very 
pulpit,  and  left  us  in  deep  distress.  He,  who  held  the  first  place 
in  my  heart,  is  no  more  in  the  land  of  the  living.  I  was  denied 
the  favour  of  inscribing  his  much  loved  name  on  this  page. 

Next  to  him,  an  uncle's  name  claims  my  reverence.  And  the 
gratitude  and  affection,  which  your  unwearied  attentions  to  our 
beloved  mother,  your  sister,  have  created  in  our  hearts,  constrain 
me  to  offer  you  this  public  expression  of  my  sentiments. 

Accept,  very  dear  sir,  the  assurances  of  our  affection  and 
reverence. 

I  am  your  obedient  servant 

and  nephew, 

WILLIAM  CRAIG  BROWNLEE, 

61555 


ADVERTISEMENT. 

With  diffidence  I  venture  to  lay  this  volume  before  the  public. 
Whatever  may  be  its  defects  or  merits,  it  certainly  owes  nothing 
to  the  influence  of  learned  ease,  or  the  support  of  a  patron.  An 
American  author  is  not  favoured  with  either  the  one  or  the  other. 
It  was  written  under  the  unceasing  pressure  of  my  pastoral  and 
academic  labours ;  and  the  pleasure  and  amusement,  which  every 
author  feels  in  arranging  his  materials,  were  resumed,  from  time 
to  time,  to  beguile  a  sombre  hour.  I  have  been  anxious  to  ren- 
der it,  in  every  respect,  worthy  of  the  notice  of  the  public.  But, 
it  is,  perhaps,  prudent  to  conceal  how  much  pains  have  been 
taken,  and  how  many  years  have  been  spent,  in  collecting  ma- 
terials "  in  the  toon  of  that  singulaire  an''  graite  mann  Maister 
William  Penn,''''  to  render  them  worthy  of  patronage,  until  it  be 
known  whether  that  shall  ever  be  bestowed  on  it. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

The  Proem. — Hints  on  the  times  in  which  the  first  mate- 
rials of  these  volumes  were  gleaned.  Of  laird  Thomas  B.  of 
Torfoot,  to  whose  piety  and  industry  I  owe  so  much.  Sketch 
of  the  characters  of  the  ministers  and  laymen  who  lived  in 
concealment,  in  or  near  his  house,  during  the  "  killing  times^^ 
of  the  twenty -eight  years  persecution.  Kid — King — M'Kail — 
Guthrie — Dickson — Fleming — Welsh — Richard  Cameron — 
Alexander  Peden — Donald  Cargil — Renwick.  Of  the  laymen 
there  were  Sir  Robert  Hamilton — Hackston  of  Rathillet — 
Balfour  of  Burly — Capt.  Nesbit — Hall — Paton,  &c.  Descrip- 
tion of  laird  Thomas's  person — his  personal  adventures — taken 
prisoner  with  his  brother  John — escape.  The  battle  of.Drum- 
clog — the  battle  of  Bothwell  bridge — taken  prisoner  in  this 
battle — by  an  unaccountable  interposition  of  mercy  only  ban- 
ished to  Virginia — is  shipwrecked — his  marvellous  escape — 
he  returns  into  the  bosom  of  his  family  at  the  Revolution — 
his  studies — his  death.  Extract  from  his  writings  in  his  ori- 
ginal Scottish  dialect.       -------  £ 

Epistle  to  the  Reader. 33 

Maxims  or  first  principles  submitted  to  the  candour  of  the 
Friends,  and  to  be  kept  in  view  by  the  reader  of  these  disser- 
tations. _--,-. .--34 

PART  I. 

j?n  historical  dissertation  on  the  origin,  rise,  progress,  ^c.  of  the 
society  of  Friends. 

Section  1.  A  general  outline  of  the  religious  opinions  of  the 
Friends — two  general  classes  of  them — -Jirst,  respecting  the 
Deity — second,  respecting  the  human  soul.  The  whole  doc- 
trine of  their  system  seems  to  have  been  built  upon  their 
opinions  on  these  two.  ------         42 

Sect.  2.  An  historical  inquiry  how  far  these  sentiments  are 
Platonic  or  Mystic — the  outlines  of  the  theology  of  Plato  and 
his  disciples.  -         --         -         -         -         -         -         43 

Sect.  3.  The  history  of  these  opinions — Moschus — Pytha- 
goras— Plato-  diffusion  of  Platonisin — the  Eclectics — Ammo- 
nius  Saccas — the  revolution  produced  by  him  in  the  religious 
or  christian  world. 47 


viii  Contents, 

PAGE 

Sect.  4.  Two  sects  spring  up  out  of  this  revolution.  1.  The 
masters  of  the  schohistic  theology — Origen — 2.  Tlie  Mystics — 
their  process  in  christianizing  Plato — they  adopt  his  doctrines 
and  form  of  discipline — progress  of  the  Mystics  in  the  fourth 
century — Dionysius  the  Areopagite — the  Oriental  Mystics — 
•the  Mystics  of  the  West — great  diflfercnce  in  their  characters 
— causes  of  this — three  classes  of  these  Mystics — Cenobites — 
Hermits — Anchorites — a  fresh  impulse  gnen  to  them  in  the 
fifth  century — two  causes  operatln<»;  in  the  sixth  century,  by 
which  these  opinions  were  more  widely  spread — the  writings 
of  John  of  Scythopolis — the  fall  of  the  Platonic  schools  under 
the  edict  of  the  emperor  Justinian — multitudes  of  the  Plato- 
nics thence  driven  into  the  bosom  of  the  church — the  ninth 
century  opens  a  new  era  to  the  Mystics — translation  of  Dio- 
nysius the  pretended  Areopagite,  by  John  Scot  Erigena — 
state  of  things  in  the  dark  ages.         -----         51 

Sect.  5.  A  fresh  torrent  of  the  Greek  philosophy  poured  in, 
through  Italy,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century — causes 
— revival  of  Greek  letters — Pletho — Platonic  academy  at  Flo- 
rence— triumph  of  Plato  over  Aristotle — Ficino — Leo  X. — 
Nefo — scholars  from  all  quarters — from  England,  in  this  aca- 
demy. ---------55 

Sect.  6.  The  individuals  who  were  most  active  in  christian- 
izing Plato — mere  men  of  letters  not  so  dangerous — the  theo- 
logians became  the  daring  innovators — in  the  Syrian  and  Greek 
churches,  the  Novatians  and  Cathari — the  followers  of  Mon- 
lanus — Pepuzians — female  bishops — Paulicians  in  the  ninth 
century — the  progress  of  these  from  the  East  into  Europe — 
pilgrims  of  Hungary — Gerard  and  Dnlcimus  in  England — 
their  opinions — Lucopetros  in  the  twelfth  century — Tanquel- 
nius,  a.  first  James  N(njlor—-t\\e  Amauri  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury— their  opinions — the  bretlirea  and  sisters  of  the  Free 
Spirit — their  opinions — the  Whippers — their  opinions — their 
practices — they  attract  men  of  all  ranks  to  their  standard — 
tlie  cardinal  of  Lorraine  and  the  kivg  of  France  in  their  train 
■ — Taulerus,  the  Mystic,  was  himself  a  host — his  opinions — 
his  the  fullest  system  of  mysticism — he  preached  at  Cologne 
• — his  sermons  published  in  Dutch — translated  into  English  in 
A.  D.165r — Paracelsus — Postello — Wigellius — David  George 
— Behmen — his  opinions  and  career — curious  cause  of  his  first 
trance — the  Englisli  associates  of  this  mystic — Cressy — Sir 
Harry  Vane — William  Law — on  tlie  continent  of  Europe  there 
were  Kotter — Kiel — Labadie  the  companion  of  Penn  and  Bar- 
clay— Molinos,  the  Spanish  priest.  -         -         -         -         57 

Sect.  7.  Spread  of  these  in  Eiiijland  at  an  early  date — the 
invidious  question  answered,  '"  If  hence  came  it  that  the  Pro- 
testant church  has  originated  so  much  fanaticism?'^'' — causes  of 
the  appearance  of  so  many  sectaries — all  these  causes  in  full 
'iperation  in  England  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century 


Contents,  ix 

PAGE 

— historical  view  of  these  causes  under  James  VI.  Charles 
I. — Cromwell — deplorable  state  of  the  clergy  from  the  time  of 
Queen  Elizabeth — their  treatment — the  depression  of  their 
ciiaracter  by  many  untoward  causes — their  usefulness  destroy- 
ed— thousands  of  parishes  left  without  a  pastor — Brownism — 
the  manner  in  which  the  tenets  of  this  sect  operated  on  the 
church,  &c. — gifted  brethren — extemporaneous  harangues — 
summit  of  extravagance  in  the  days  of  Cromwell — officers — 
soldiers — mechanics — females — give  vent  to  their  impulses — 
the  Seekers — the  Familists — the  Behmenists.  -         -         61 

Sect.  8.  In  this  state  of  general  confusion,  and  wide  spread- 
ing fanaticism,  George  Fox  appeared — character  of  this  won- 
derful man — difficulty  in  drawing  it — his  character  drawn  by 
his  friends,  Eccles,  Ellwood,  Audland,  Coale — by  his  foes, 
Dr.  Henry  More,  &c. — the  latest  by  Clarkson — superficial  and 
defective— his  character  drawn  from  his  journal  and  Sewel — 
with  other  approved  authors  of  the  society — criticism  of  a  very 
unguarded  apology  for  George  Fox,  by  Clarkson,  note — George 
Fnx's  labours  from  the  year  1644  to  the  close  of  his  life — he 
is  indefatigable  in  health-~and  in  sickness — in  bonds,  and  in 
imprisonments — his  early  associates — with  the  exception  of  ' 
William  Perm  and  Robert  Barclay,  they  are  illiterate — that,  i 
however,  no  barrier  in  the  way  of  a  specific  eloquence,  or,  in 
the  way  of  writingyb/tos.  -         -         -         -         ~         -         65 

Sect.  9.  The  manner  of  declaiming  practised  by  the  first  ^z 
Friends — their  effects  on  the  multitude — not  marvellous  in  the 
state  of  things  formerly  noticed.  -         -         -         -         71 

Sect.  10.  Their  success  in  England  and  in  Ireland — causes  v 
— their  zeal  in  forming  a  fund  for  the  gratuitous  distribution 
of  their  books  and  tracts — the  quantity  of  these  thrown  into 
the  public,  almost  incredible — they  have  kept  Barclay  afloat 
by  gratuitous  distributions — their  booksellers  labour  in  the  city 
(London) — their  distributions  in  the  country,  from  county  to 
county,  by  agents,  who  transported  their  books  on  pack-horses.     73 

Sect.ll.  Other  causes  of  their  success — persecution — exem-  / 
plified  in  their  progress  in  Wales  and  Cornwall — the  Saxons 
managed  things  in  a  better  style — instance  in  the  sentence  on 
Behmen  by  the  electoral  prince  and  the  divines  of  Dresden — 
England  slow  in  opening  her  eyes  on  her  best  interest,  in  giv- 
ing full  liberty  of  conscience — probable  effects  of  mild  mea- 
sures on  George  Fox,  and  his  system,  and  followers.  -         74 

Sect.  12.  Different  reception  of  the  Friends  in  the  kingdom 
of  Scotland — causes — view  of  the  genius  and  habits  of  the 
Scottish  people — not  gloomy  nor  fanatical — they  are  stern  and 
severe  in  their  manners — probable  causes — the  remains  of  the 
moral  inflxience  of  feudalism — the  presbytery — pastoral  visits 
and  instructions — a  reading  and  reflecting  people — unlike  the 
uneducated  population  of  England— bishop  Burnet's  views  on 
this  subject — his^  character  of  the  priests  who  succeeded  the 


X  Contents. 

PAGE 

exiled  ntinisters  after  the  restoration  of  Charles  II. — the  cha- 
racter anil  manners  of  the  good  old  Whigs  of  the  Covenant — 
distinguished  from  the  canting  hypocrites  who  unhappily  crept 
in  among  them,  and  injured  tlie  holy  cause — the  profligate 
court  of  diaries  II. — its  influence  sent  out  from  it,  as  from  a 
common  centre,  over  all  ranks — tyrannical  measures  against 
the  christian  patriots,  the  Whigs — broken  and  dispersed,  they 
retire  into  lurking  places  among  the  peasantry — they  foster 
civil  and  religious  liberty  in  their  retreats  among  the  people — 
the  issue  of  the  twenty -eight  years  sufferings — justice  has  not 
been  done  to  the  memory  of  these  patriots  and  martyrs — the 
infidel  historian — the  poet — 'the  novelist — tlirow  out  their  un- 
holy gibes — and  give  most  erroneous  delineations  of  charac- 
ter—even  modern  Presbyterian  writers  not  Justin  this  matter 
— Dr.  Cook's  late  work  noticed.         -----         7a 

Sect.  13.  It  was  during  this  excitement,  and  among  such 
people,  that  the  Quaker  missionaries  in  Scotland  made  their 
first  appearance — hence  their  failure — George  Fox,  in  Glasgow, 
could  not  prevail  "on  even  one  to  come  to  hear  him.'''  -         82 

Sect.  14.  Scotland  assailed  from  anotiier  quarter,  and  by  a 
character  very  different  from  that  of  the  first  Quaker  mission- 
aries— the  best  writer  of  the  society  was  given  to  them  by 
Scotland — Robert  Barclay — his  character  as  a  writer — his 
Latin  Apology — note — Mosheim's  remarkable  accuracy  in  his 
view  of  this  writer,  and  of  this  sect — the  antagonist  of  Barclay 
— John  Brown  of  Waiuphry — Scotland  has  not  yet  done  him 
justice — his  character  as  a  polemic — the  victory  gained  by  him 
— and  other  writers  over  this  sect  in  Scotland,  complete — 
proof  from  facts.      ----  ...gS 

Sect.  15.  The  progress  of  the  sect  of  Friends  on  the  conti- 
nent of  Europe — causes  of  this.         -----         86 
Sect.  16.  Their  introduction  into  America  by  the  celebrated 
\  William  Penn — the  two  points  in  which  the  American  Friends 
differ  widely  from  those  of  Europe.  -         -         -         -         86 

Sect.  17.  Three  periods  in  the  history  of  the  society — -Jirstj 
the  Foxonian — the  natural  and  necessary  result  of  the  doc- 
trines which  they  held  in  that  period — a  specimen  gleaned 
^  from  history  in  the  extravagance  of  Naylor — of  Toldervy — 

this  period  lasted  from  about  the  year  1644  to  1660 — second 

period  more  orderly — maturing  under  Penn — Keith — Dr. 
Owen's  opinion  of  this  stage  of  their  history — Penn  a  Sabel- 
lian — his  doctrinal  tenets — he  applauds  Crellius  the  Socinian 
writer — Penn's  early  labours  watched  and  applauded  by  the 
Socinians  of  London — his  book,  "  The  Sandy  Foundation 
Shaken,^'  gives  the  christian  public  a  decided  view  of  his  un- 
veiled Socinianism — Penn  confined  in  the  Tower  of  London 
on  a  charge  of  blasphemy — he  gradually  matures  his  system — 
his  explanations  are  accepted — and  he  is  liberated — he  declares 
that  "  he  had  not  budged  one  joV^  in  doctrine — a  medley  of 


Contents.  xi 

PACK 

impiety  and  of  martyrdom  in  this  singular  character — the 
third  period  is  the  Barclayian — he  has  moulded  the  system  of 
mysticism  into  a  new  form — has  concealed  the  offensive  dog- 
mata of  Penn — and  the  wild  mysticism  of  Fox  in  some  man- 
ner— has  impressed  on  the  whole  system  the  prominent  fea- 
tures of  the  more  popular  Arininian  and  Pelagian  errors.  87 

Sect.  18.  A  gradual  combination  and  mixture  of  the  different 
sentiments  of  these  three  periods — view  of  the  gradual  change 
of  Penn's  sentiments — the  difference  in  his  sentiments  and 
manner,  from  the  year  1668  to  1692  and  1698 — Barclay  per- 
fects the  new  model,  and  makes  Saccas  a  respectable  Armi- 
nian  or  Pelagian — in  Ireland  the  authors  of  the  "  Brief  Apol- 
ogy,''^ and  Fuller  have  gone,  perhaps,  still  farther  than  Barclay 
in  new  modelling  the  system  according  to  the  reigning  taste.      90 

Sect.  19.  Each  of  these  periods  produced  its  respective  writ- 
ers— each  has  had  its  partizans — hence  the  diversity  of  doc- 
trinal opinions  among  the  Quakers — sketch  of  a  comparison  of 
Fox — of  Penn  with  others — Job  Scott — Clarkson — Bristed.      ^  91 

Sect.  20.  The  qKctMng  that  characterized  i\\Q  first  period- 
and  gradually  died  away  in  the  second,  and  the  third — account  i 
of  these  bodily  phenomena — Penn's  defence  of  them — Bar-! 
clay's  mysticism  on  this  affair — these  phenomena  purely  Pla- 
tonic— contrast  of  the  ancient  and  modern  Platonics  on  this 
matter — Synesius — Hilton,  whose  writings  edified  the  mother 
of  king  Henry  VII.  of  England — these  Platonic  sentiments, 
two  sects  agreeing  in  main,  in  doctrinal  opinions,  have  suc- 
cessfully reduced  to  practice,  and  have  produced  results 
strangely  different — 1.  the  dancing  Quakers,  2.  the  trembling 
Quakers — ancient  precedents  of  these  among  the  pagans  and 
the  modern  Jews — anecdotes-— gradual  departure  of  the  spirit 
of  trembling.  -         -         -         -         -         --         -         91 

Sect.  21.  Another  peculiarity  of  the  first  period — they 
taught  by  signs — they  walked  mournfully  in  the  streets  in 
sackcloth — Barclay  leads  a  procession — modern  Lupercalians 
countenanced  in  the  society — these  made  naked  processions — 
some  remarkable  specimens  recorded  by  their  own  writers — 
of  Eccles — Simpson — the  point  touching  some  of  their  females 
doing  this,  investigated — these  naked  processions  traced  to 
the  ancient  Lupercalians,  through  a  line  of  modern  fanatics 
on  the  continent  of  Europe — notice  of  the  defence  of  the  Qua- 
kers from  this  charge,  in  tlieir  appendix  to  a  late  edition  of 
Mosheim — the  writers  of  this  defence  shown  to  betray  a  cul- 
pable ignorance  of  those  writings  of  the  Friends,  which  are  in 
every  Quaker's  hands — Fox,  Penn,  Sewel,  not  only  admit 
the  facts,  but  applaud  the  naked  processions,  and  offer  godly 
commentaries  thereon  !  ..----         94 

Sect.  22.  On  thedressof  the  Friends — plainness — taste — no 
disputing  about  such  matters  of  taste — broad  brim — anecdote, 
note — the  sufferings  of  the  ancient  elders  in  the  establishment 


xii  Contents. 

PAGE 

of  their  peculiar  dress,  manners,  and  the  7iew  tongue  which 
they  spake  as  the  spirit  ^ave  them  utterance — tlie  positive  influ- 
ence of  their  dress  in  helping  to  fix  their  public  character — 
those  founders  of  new  sects  who  made  a  distinctive  dress  enter 
into  a  part  of  their  creed  were  shrewd  observers  of  human  na- 
ture— illustration  of  this.  ------         96 

Sect.  23.  On  oaths — review  of  the  argument  for  civil  oaths 
—and  against  them — Penn's  opposition  to  civil  oaths  not  found- 
ed, in  reality,  on  any  passage  of  holy  writ  supposed  to  bear 
against  them,  as  on  a  peculiar  sentiment  of  Plato — the  Plato- 
nic life  beyond  an  oath — the  German  divine's  opinion  of  those 
who  will  not  take  an  oath.         ---...       loi 

Sect.  24.  On  war — the  society  has  never  stated  this  question 
fairly  nor  correctly — they  confound  oftensive  and  defensive 
war — what  has  been  advanced  by  their  most  rational  defend- 
ers participates  more  of  the  nature  of  declamation  than  argu- 
ment— specimen  of  it — arguments  for  defensive  war — precept 
"—examples  sanctioned  by  God — defensive  war  began  in  hea- 
ven— the  principle  of  non-resistance  shown  to  be  of  a  danger- 
ous tendency  in  a  political  view — not  reducible  to  practice  by 
the  society,  nor  by  any  sect — the  principle  shown  to  be  of  a 
dangerous  moral  tendency,  if  carried  into  effect  by  any  portion 
of  men  it  would  hold  out  encouragement  and  facilities  to  the 
robber  and  the  murderer — it  would  encrease  crime  and  moral 
pollution  to  an  incalculable  extent — the  practice  of  the  society 
seems  to  do  violence  to  their  theory,  note — the  leaders  of  the 
society  before  the  year  1660  do  not  appear  to  have  held  this 
principle  as  now  professed  to  be  held  by  the  Quakers — colli- 
sion between  the  principle  and  the  practice  of  their  ancient  el- 
ders— their  re-capture,  vi  et  arrnis,  of  a  sloop  taken  away  by 
pirates  from  the  port  of  Philadelphia — re-capture  of  Friend 
captain  Pattison's  ship,  note — Penn's  views  and  practice — 
Paxton  boys — only  one  thing  has  saved  the  existence  of  the 
society,  and  this  principle  in  their  system — that  is,  their  fel- 
low citizens  have  neither  believed  nor  practised  upon  it.  104 

Sect.  25.  The  society  has  been  a  divided  people — their  in- 
ternal state — natural  tendency  of  their  grand  doctrinal  tenet 
■^their  Liberales — their  discipline — dissention  on  that  head — 
the  opposition  charged  the  society  with  having  abandoned  the 
original  principle  of  the  sect — instead  of  the  light  within  each 
individual,  they  made  the  light  of  the  body,  collectively  taken,  the 
guide  of  the  conscience — hence  the  schism  in  the  society — their 
dissentions  about  the  orthodox  use  of  the  hat — hence  a  schism 
— a  new  sect  springs  up  out  of  these  two  contending  parties 
— Shackleton  revived  this  sect  lately — the  Keithian  controver- 
sy on  a  fundamental  doctrine — anecdote  of  Penn  and  Keith — 
mutual  denunciation — dissention  about  the  revision  and  cor- 
recti(m  of  Friends'  books — the  majority  in  the  society  advo- 
cate every  expression  and  item  uttered  and  written  by  the  an- 


Contents.  xiii 

PAGE 

tient  elders — they  reasoned  a  priori  on  the  matter — the  free 
Quakers — the   jumping   Quakers   or    Shakers — uncle   John's 
opinion  of  this  sect,  established  under  Case  their  first  leader.     113 

Sect.  26.  The  pages  of  the  Friends  contain  violent  and  illib- 
eral  charges   against  other  sects  for  their  persecuting  spirit 
— the  society  shown  to  have  manifested  in  the  course  of  their 
short  career,  instances  of  the  same  disposition — illustrated  by 
historical  facts — by  cases  of  discipline — consequences  of  ex- 
pulsion from  the  society  in  our  large  cities — Evan's  case — 
note.         ---.  ...--  118 

Sect.  27.  The  society  has  always    stood  aloof  from  every 
communion — it  has   been  against  every  sect — every  sect  has 
been  against  it — the  tide  of  the  public  opinion  set  in  strongly  , 
apjain^t  them  in  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century — proofs    -^ 
—-their  antagonists — sketch  of  their  writings  against  the  Qua- 
kers— Hicks — Dr.  Owen — Sir  Matthew  Hale — Faldo — Stalhani 
— Scandrett — twenty-one  divines — three  rectors — Leslie — the 
bishop  of  Cork — Keith — Bennet — act  of  toleration — Francis 
Bugg — Dr.  Stillingfleet — cause  of  the  public  suspicions  that 
Jesuits  were  among  the  earliest  Friends — George  Fox's  Latin 
works — \\'\s  /lolyglotJ        -         -         -         -         -         -         -119 

Sect.  28.  The  result  of  these  able  exposures — 'the  feeble  ef- 
forts of  the  society  to  reply — their  explanations  covered  with 
ambiguities,  and  full  of  contradictions  against  their  primitive 
writers.  _-_.----  122 

Sect.  29.  After  some  repose  under  Queen  Anne  and  the  first 
Georges,  the  society  is  alarmed  by  the  able  and  very  tempe- 
rate expositions  of  the  bishop  of  Litchfield  and  Coventry — 
they  throw  themselves  before  the  king  and  implore  his  protec- 
tion, as  if  the  good  bishop  had  been  going  to  devour  them — 
they  pledge  to  the  public  a  full  reply — it  contained  nothing 
new — it  produced  no  favourable  eftect  on  the  public  mind.         123 

Sect.  30.  Incidents  in  the  history  of  the  later  years  of  the 
society  uninteresting — their  publications  are  confined  to  the 
insipid  journals  of  a  few  travelling  prophets  or  prophetesses— 
and  attacks  and  defences  from  disowned  members — these  prin- 
ciples have  been  about  180  years  in  operation — their  numbers 
decrease  in  Great  Britain — their  present  numbers  contrasted 
with  their  number  stated  in  tiie  close  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, note — they  are  supposed,  on  the  whole,  to  be  encreasing 
in  the  U.  States — they  continue  to  stand  aloof  from  all  chris- 
tian intercourse — as  a  body  they  decline  aiding  the  Bible  so- 
cieties, and  missionary  efforts — the  extent  of  their  influence  in 
aiding  to  put  down  the  most  execrable  trade  in  human  flesh — 
and  in  meliorating  the  condition  of  some  Indian  tribes,  and  of 
the  African  population,  note.         .         .         -         .         .  124 

Sect.  31.  Conclusion  :  their  prophets,  though  professionally 
inspired,  found  to  be  ineftective  polemics — the  society  seems 
to  have  looked  out  for  advocates  from  other  quarters — the  mo- 


xiv  Contents. 

PAGK 

dern  mode  apparently  resorted  to  for  the  procuring  defenders 
— their  funds  have  kept  Barclay  and  a  few  other  works  afloat 
— tiiey  have,  from  their  rise,  been  in  the  habit  of  distributing 
these  standard  works  gratis — the  latest  writers  not  of  the  so- 
ciety— causes  which  probably  led  their  two  latest  defenders 
into  the  controversy — Bristed — Clarkson — review  of  them — 
their  doctrinal  system  brought  forward  by  Clarkson — meagre 
and  unsatisfactory — yet  sufficient  to  show  that  the  society  ad- 
heres to  the  system  of  "William  Penn  and  of  Job  Scott.  126 

Sect.  32.  On  the  whole,  tlie  society  exhibits  a  singular  phe- 
nomenon in  the  religious  world — proof — an  abstract  of  the 
weak  parts  of  the  system,  and  inconsistencies  interwoven 
throughout  the  whole — if  George  Fox's  principles  be  the  stan- 
dard of  Quakerism,  the  society,  it  must  be  admitted,  is  fast  de- 
generating— and  calls  for  tlie  reforming  of  George  Fox,,  could 
he  rise  from  the  dead.         ......  1-2S 


PART  II. 

Conluiniug  dissertaiions  on  their  doctrines,  worship,  ministvy,  ^-c. 


Chap.  1.  Of  their  grand  religious  tenet,  Immediate  revela- 
tions which  they  exalt  above  the  holy  scriptures — a  free  and 
full  inquiry  into  this.         ------  13,i 

Chap. -2.  On  the  character  of  their  silent  worship.  Section  1. 
Their  silent  meetings — movements  bv  the  spirit — phenomena 
— discourses — their  leading  topics — their  freedom  of  speech — 
effects — counter  motions.  Section  3.  On  public  prayers.  Sec- 
tion 3.  On  singing  of  psalms.         -         .         -         -         -  170 

Chap.  3.  Of  the  miiiistry — apologv  for  the  ministry  of  the 
Lord  Je«us  Christ — the  society  of  Friends  has  always  distin- 
guished itself  for  its  deep  rooted  hostility  against  the  ministry 
— not  from  personal  feelings,  so  mucli  as  from  principle — Bar- 
clay's disclosure  of  this  singular  priiicijjle — a  review  of  the 
anomalous  office  which  the  Friends  have  instituted  instead  of 
the  ministry.         ..--..-.  180 

Chap.  4.  On  the  maintenance  of  the  ministry— -review  of 
tlie  excessive  severity  of  tlie  society's  invectives — it  is  shown 
that  they  have  not  condemned  this,  either  in  theory  or  in  prac- 
tice— the  effects  which  the  avaricious  principle  of  the  society 
is  slowly  and  surely  producing  on  itself.  -         -         -       190 

Chap.  5.  On  female  preachers — historical  view  of  spiritual 
heroines — an  examination  of  the  claims  of  the  female  clergy — 
an  appeal  to  the  fair  sex  in  the  society,  and  out  of  it — an  ap- 
peal to  men  on  this  subject.     -         -         -         -         -         -       195 


Contents.  xv 

PAGE 

Chap.  6.  On  the  defects  of  their  system  in  regard  to  a  mo- 
ral standard — the  Spirit  or  light  within,  the  rule — specimen  of 
the  contradictions  of  their  best  writers — they  have  not  agreed 
yet  on  what  their  moral  standard  is — scarcely  do  two  of  their 
writers  ag;ree,  touchir.s;  that  thing;,  "  the  Li^ht  within^  209 

Chap.  7.  On  the  defects  of  their  religious  system  in  point  of 
doctrines.  Section  1.  Of  the  most  holy  Trinity.  Section  2. 
Of  the  sacred  persons  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Section  3.  Of  tlie  atonement.  Section  4.  Of  the  resurrection 
of  the  body  from  the  grave.  Section  5.  Of  the  second  coming 
of  Christ  to  judgment.  Section  6.  Of  a  future  state — fragment 
of  a  peroration  to  this  chapter,  by  laird  Thomas.         -         -       218 

Chap.  8.  Of  the  defects  of  the  Quaker  system  in  point  of 
religious  institutions.  Section  1.  Of  the  Lord's  day.  Section 
2.  Of  the  holy  sacraments— ^rs/,  baptism — second,  the  Lord's 
supper. 238 

Chap.  9.  An  historical  view  of  the  moral  tendency  of  the 
religious  tenets  of  the  society^-considered  in  its  effects  on  the 
mind— on  their  manners — on  practical  religion— and  on  learn- 
ing.                  .....       288 

The  conclusion. 301 

The  appendix — notes — brief  review  of  the  most  distinguished 
preachers  and  writers  in  the  society.         .         .         .         ,  •] 


C-OLUf/, 


Nos  enim  qui  ipsi  sermoni  non  interfuissemus,  ct  quibus  C.  Cotta  locos  ct 
sententias  liujus  disputationis  tradidisset — id  ipsum  suimis  in  eonim  sermonc 
»dumbrareconati. — Cic.  De  Uratore. 


The  materials  of  this  volume  were  gleaiieil  from  various 
sources ;  and  during  that  period  in  which  the  society  of 
Friends  struggled  into  existence. 

*  *  *  *  ju  that  extraordinary  period,  when  death 
had  removed  the  head  of  that  party  which  had  been  flung 
into  power  by  the  whirlwind  of  faction,  the  British  nation 

replaced  its  native  prince  on  the  throne  of  his  fathers. 

*  *  *  *  «- 

******  But  Charles  II.  was  an  unprincipled  man. 
He  neither  feared  God,  nor  regarded  man.  He  was  a 
Jesuit  in  politics,  a  Judas  in  religion,  a  Nero  on  the 
throne.  Irreclaimable  even  by  the  lessons  which  the  na- 
tion had  given  liis  family,  in  the  reigns  of  his  father  and 
grandfather;  and  deplorably  and  culpably  ignorant  of  the 
duty  and  the  art  of  ruling  ;  and  in  a  great  degree  a  stran- 
ger to  tlie  character  and  disposition  of  that  high-minded 
people,  over  whom  he  was  placed  as  chief  magistrate,  he 
came  to  the  throne  with  all  tlie  errors  of  a  Stuart,  if  pos- 
sible, tenfold  increased.  His  reign,  under  the  tutorship 
of  Lauderdale,  exhibited  little  else  than  misrule^  and  ty- 
ranny  and  cruelty. 

The  kingdom  he  claimed  as  his  inheritance  by  birth- 
right. The  treasure,  and  the  bodies,  and  the  consciences 
of  the  people  he  considered  as  his  property ;  and  as  much 
at  his  disposal  as  his  moveables,  or  the  tenants  of  his 
stables.  By  the  act  of  supremacy  of  A.  D.  1669,  pro- 
cured by  the  most  corrupt  influence,  he  received  power 
over  all  matters  and  persons,  ecclesiastical  and  civil.  He 
modelled  the  form  of  worship  and  government  in  the 
church  according  to  his  will.  He  denied  to  the  people  the 
right  of  electing  their  ministers,  or  of  thinking  for  them- 
selves f  or  of  taking  care  of  their  own  souls. 

3 


2  The  Proem. 

The  \vhi2;s  of  Scotland,  whom  lord  Belhaven  styled 
('  the  true  hlue  preshyterians,"*  did  not  understand  this. 
They  had  once  recalled  the  kins;,  and  had  set  the  crowa 
on  his  head.  They  expected  a  difl'erent  return.  They  re- 
monstrated. They  called  this  an  impious  stretch  of  power. 
The  conscience,  they  told  him,  is  left  as  free  as  tiie  wind 
on  their  mountains.  This  was,  moreover,  trenching  on 
their  chartered  rights  as  Scotchmen;  and  it  was  a  laying 
on  the  slioulders  of  an  erring  mortal  what  could  be  borne 
by  no  man.  It  was  the  prerogative  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  that  lie  was  usurping. 

To  this  bold  declaration  of  a  very  brave  and  loyal  peo- 
ple, Charles  II.  replied  by  an  edict,  which  drove  four 
hundred  of  Scotland's  best  and  most  faithful  ministers 
into  prison,  or  into  exile ;  and  he  placed  their  flocks  un- 
der bi'ihops  and  curates,  most  unhappily  selected — for, 
according  to  bishop  l?urnet,  they  were  without  religion, 
and  many  of  them  without  morals. 

A  Scotchman's  conscience  is  not  to  be  dictated  to  in 
matters  of  religion.  The  mass  of  the  people  instantly 
turned  away  from  those  temples  in  which  they  had  for- 
merly worshipped  with  delight;  but  which  were  now  pol- 
luted by  the  slaves  of  tyranny.  They  invited  their  pas- 
tors to  meet  tiiem  in  their  private  houses — for  tiieir  church- 
es were  taken  from  them.  These  houses  were  soon  found 
to  be  too  small  for  the  mass  of  population  which  crowded 
forward  around  their  much  loved  pastors.  They  betook 
themselves  to  the  fields.  Hence  the  origin  of  conventicles 
and  field  meetings. 

To  put  down  these,  and  to  regain  the  consciences  of 
his  subjects,  Charles  II.  had  recourse  to  cruel  means. 
His  sanguinary  laws  made  it  penal  in  any  person  even  to 
be  present  at  a  conventicle  :  and  high  treason  in  a  clergy- 
man to  officiate  in  any  way  at  it.  A  price  was  set  on  the 
heads  of  the  ministers  who  refused  to  abandon  their  flocks, 
and  become  traitors  to  religion.  The  soldiery  were  turn- 
ed loose  on  the  country :  and  they  butchered  pastor  and 
people ! 

The  people,  after  long  submission  and  suffering,  goad- 

*  In  his  speech  in  the  Scottish  parliament,  1706.-1  mean  here 
the  whigs  of  the  covenant,  of  course. 


The  Proem.  3 

ed  on  to  despair,  began,  at  length,  to  assert  the  lawfulness 
of  self-defence  against  these  lawless  and  brutal  soldiers, 
let  loose  against  them  by  those  who  had  sworn  to  protect 
them.  Hence  the  origin  of  the  practice  of  coming  armed 
to  the  conventicles. 

It  was  no  sooner  know^n  that  they  had  assumed  this  at- 
titude than  tijey  were  denounced  as  rebels — and  without 
an  examination  of  their  grievances,  they  were  put  out  of 
the  protection  of  tiie  law.  And  what  was  the  character 
of  these  men?  They  were  no  rebels.  Oppression  had 
driven  them  to  desperate  measures  of  defence.  There  was 
not  a  moral  stain  on  tljeir  character — some  few  indivi- 
duals, of  fierce  spirit,  only  excepted.  They  were  devout 
and  pious  men;  they  possessed  an  ardent  love  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty,  which  no  force  nor  inquisitorial  cru- 
elty could  subdue.  In  fine,  tiie  only  crime  that  the  tyrant 
could  allege  against  them,  was  that  of  self-defence  against 
his  tyranny.  Their  sole  crime  was  their  determination 
to  be  free ;  and  to  secure  their  religion  against  those  pre- 
lates who  were,  in  a  manner  so  unbefitting  their  office, 
dragooning  a  nation  to  their  religion  and  ceremonies. 

In  the  dreadful  hour  of  oppression  tliis  band  of  Chris- 
tian patriots  raised  the  standard  of  self-defence.  In  the 
oath  of  their  covenant  they  pledged  support  to  each  other, 
and  fidelity  to  their  God.  They  appealed  to  the  Almighty 
for  the  justness  of  their  cause :  and  proclaimed  war  against 
the  tyrant  and  his  bloody  council. 

All  their  eflForts  failed  to  rouse  the  sleeping  energies  of 
the  nation.  The  patriot's  voice  was  drowned  in  the  cla- 
mours of  the  spies  and  court  parasites.  The  body  of  the 
nation  left  this  band  to  their  fate  for  twenty  and  eight 
years  !  Pentland  witnessed  their  melancholy  overthrow  ; 
and  Scottish  liberty  wailed  on  her  mountains  while  the 
brave  covenanters  fell.  Drumclog  saw  them  rally  and 
gain  a  battle.  But  BothwelFs  bloody  field  saw  them  bro- 
ken irrecoverably.  The  Christian  patriots  were  driven 
to  their  mountains  and  fastnesses.  They  wandered  in  the 
deep  morasses ;  and  hid  themselves  in  the  caves.  The 
bloody  tyrant,  as  if  infuriate  with  success,  had  recourse 
to  means  so  shocking  to  every  feeling  heart,  that  they 
seem  almost  the  fables  of  romance  to  our  ears.  In  addi- 
tion to  outlawry,  and  the  confiscation  of  property,  his  zeal 


4  The  Proem. 

revived  the  spirit  of  the  old  Norman  law  which  ^'  hauged 
the  husband  if  his  wife  committed  theft.*'  His  law  made 
the  head  of  each  family  answer  for  all  his  inmates,  if  they 
had  ventured  to  a  conventicle :  and  the  land  proprietors 
were  made  accountable  for  their  tenants.*  And  to  crown 
the  whole,  be  employed  such  ferocious  assassins  as  Gra- 
ham of  Clavers,  and  Dalziel ;  with  a  complement  of  the 
body  guards,  each  of  whom  threw  into  the  shade  the  fierc- 
est Indians  that  ever  yelled  in  tlie  wilds  of  America. 
These  English  soldiers  occasionally  employed  the  saga- 
city of  blood  hounds  to  hunt  up  the  retreats  of  the  suf- 
ferers !t 

In  this  period  of  civil  war,  when  tyranny  struck  a  blow 
at  every  dissenter,  armed  bands  of  peasantry,  with  their 
chiefs,  associated  with  the  fugitive  pastor  :  tlie  pious  and 
orthodox  were  brought  into  collision  with  the  sectary  and 
fanatic.  In  their  secret  haunts,  in  caves  and  morasses, 
the  resolutioner  met  the  protester  ;  and  the  presbyterian 
the  quaker.  Yet  their  common  danger  never  could  pre- 
vail on  them  to  sacrifice  their  peculiar  opinions,  or  even  to 
soften  down  their  asperities.  It  rather,  indeed,  seemed 
to  endear  them  to  each  sect.  The  sombre  hours  of  the 
wanderer  on  the  lonely  mountains,  were  often  enlivened 
by  the  free  exchange  of  sentiment,  or  the  tierce  sallies  of 
passion,  which  characterized  the  polemicks  of  that  day< 
And  often  the  midnignt  lamp  was  seen  to  illumine  the 
dreary  and  damp  cave  of  the  exiles,  v/hile  they  pursued 
the  argument,  or  collected  the  materials  of  a  well  digested 
refutation. 

Among  these  polemicks  who  wielded  the  pen  against 
the  sectary,  and  his  sword  against  the  enemies  of  his 
country,  was  the  laird  of  Torfoot.  He  was  of  an  ancient 
rather  than  a  rich  family.  His  small  estate  (now  in  pos- 
session of  two  individuals  of  the  fifth  generation  from 
him,)  lies  in  the  shire  of  Lanerk,  and  in  Avendale,  at  the 
conflux  of  the  beautiful  streams  of  the  Aven  and  the  Geel. 

*  Crookshank's  Hist.  vol.  i.  ch.  12  &  14, 

t  See  Laing's  Hist,  of  Scotland  during  this  period,  in  vol.  ii.  It  is  to 
this  bloody  king  that  Barclay  has  dedicated  liis  Apology,  in  a  bold  and 
flattering  style  :  "  God  had  restored  him  to  his  throne  by  a  singular  step, 
■which  generations  will  admire."  "  God  had  done  great  things  for  him." 
"  God  had  signally  visited  him  with  his  love,"  &c.  How  could  the  ami- 
able Barclay  say  so  of  such  a  person  as  Charles  IL :" 


The  Froein.  5 

On  the  east  are  stretched  the  mountains  of  Dungavcl ;  on 
the  soutli,  and  bordering  the  Great  Valley,  are  Cairnsaigh 
and  Distinkhorn;  the  romantic  Loudon  hill  raises  its 
conical  summit  on  the  west;  and  looks  over  a  wide  plaiu^ 
terminated  on  the  west  by  a  heathy  wild,  which  spreads 
over  the  mountains  of  Druuiclog.  On  the  north  opens  the 
delightful  vale  throur^li  which  the  Aven  pours  its  broad 
stream,  and  hastens  to  mingle  with  the  Clyde  at  Ha- 
milton. 

From  this  situation  of  his  estate,  and  the  facilities  it  af- 
forded of  concealing  the  wanderers,  laird  Thomas's 
house  was  the  haunt  of  many  distinguished  personages  of 
that  day. 

Mr.  John  Kid,  and  Mr.  John  King,  two  eminent 
preachers,  and  who  were  martyred  in  Edinburg,  A.  D. 
1679,  were  frequent  inmates.  The  last  was  a  polished 
man  and  an  accomplished  scholar.  Mr.  Hush  M^Kail, 
another  minister,  who  fell  a  martyr  in  A.  D.  1662,  in  tha 
full  expansion  of  genius  and  learning,  also  honoured  the 
halls  of  my  fathers.  He  had  spent  several  years  in  tra- 
velling on  the  continent,  and  in  foreign  universities.  His 
name  was  never  mentioned  by  my  ancestor  without  a  tear 
stealing  down  his  manly  cheek.  The  immortal  William 
Gutiirie,  minister  of  Fen  wick,  was  a  favourite  at  Torfoot. 
He  was  eminent  as  a  theologian;  he  was  a  powerful 
preacher;  and  excelled  in  gaining  men  from  the  delusions 
of  error.  The  early  quakers  had  drawn  away  great  mul- 
titudes of  his  parishoners,  and  it  is  well  known  that  he 
regained  them  all.*  He  died  in  A.  D.  1655,  and  left  the 
laird  to  lament  an  invaluable  friend  of  his  youth. 

The  venerable  Dickson,  of  Rutherglen,  was  occasion- 
ally seen  in  the  group;  and  Mr.  Shields  enlivened  the 
company  by  his  sallies  of  wit,  or  roused  their  languor  by 
his  impetuous  manner. 

The  celebrated  Fleming,  and  John  Welsh  the  young- 
er, were  sometimes  of  the  party.  But  not  even  the  high 
character  of  Fleming's  piety  and  learning,  nor  the  fire  of 
young  Welsh,  could  prevent  the  invectives  of  uncle  John, 
who  missed  no  opportunity  of  running  down  as  fair  game 
^*  the  fushionless  doctrines  and  awfiC  ajjostacie''  of  those 

*  Scot's  Worth,  p.  255.    Edit,  of  1812, 


6  TJie  Proem. 

who  favoured  the  indulged.  He  insisted  that  they  were 
nothing  short  of  tories  and  erastians. 

Richard  Cameron,  the  minister  and  the  liero,  stood 
high  in  the  affections  of  this  interesting  group.  His  learn- 
ing was  considerable.  He  had  gleaned  his  knowledge  in 
the  seminaries  of  Scotland  and  of  Holland.  He  was  a 
fluent  orator;  and  what  was  nnii«»ial  then,  he  used  the 
English  more  generally  than  the  Dorick  dialect  of  the 
north.  No  good  man  can  slander  this  character.  As  a 
minister  he  was  faithful  and  truly  laborious  ;  as  a  man  of 
talents  and  acquirementsj  he  might,  if  he  had  pleased, 
risen  high  among  the  licensed  opposers  of  his  country. 
But  as  a  patriot  belaboured  during  his  life;  and  died 
fighting  for  that  liberty  whicli  the  patriots  of  the  revolu- 
tion, in  some  measure,  secured.  In  that  day  which  tried 
the  christian  patriot's  soul,  he  had  made  iiimself  master 
cf  the  military  exercise;  and  he  could  match  laird  Tho- 
mas as  readily  in  handling  a  carbine,  or  playing  with  the 
small  sword,  as  he  could  loose  the  knots  of  a  syllogism, 
or  twist  the  horns  of  a  dilemma !  Tliis  patriot  fell  in  the 
skirmish  at  Ayrsmoss;  and  his  eulogium  was  pronounced 
by  the  bloody  enemy,  as  he  rolled  out  tlie  head  and  the 
limbs  of  Cameron  from  the  sack,  before  the  council  at 
Edinburg  :  "  There  are  the  head  and  the  limbs  of  a  man 
'^  who  lived  praying  and  preaching,  and  who  died  pray- 
"  ing  and  fighting." 

In  this  circle  was  seen  that  singular  man  of  God,  Mr. 
Alexander  Peden.  He  had  a  strong,  but  uncultivated 
mind ;  his  features  were  of  the  bold  Roman  cast ;  his 
brow  was  high,  his  nose  aquiline,  his  eyebrows  shaggy, 
his  hair  long  and  bushy.  He  was  distinguished  among 
the  ministers  by  his  natural  "  head  jiiece.^^  He  despised 
a  hat.  He  wore  the  large  blue  bonnet.  His  manners 
were  plain,  and  his  appearance  rustic ;  but  his  manly 
sense,  and  most  ardent  piety,  made  ample  amends  for  the 
exterior.  In  the  sombre  hours  which  rolled  heavy  over 
the  wanderers,  he  was  equally  prepared  to  pray  like  an 
apostle,  or  to  argue  on  any  point,  or  to  detail  anecdote, 
gleaned  in  his  travels.  In  his  tour  homeward,  through 
England,*  he  had  met  with  George  Fox ;  and  the  laird 

*  Scot's  Worth,  p.  412. 


The  Proem.  7 

used  to  say,  that  nothing  could  equal  the  character  which 
this  shrewd  person  drew  of  this  far-famed  man,  and  of 
his  doctrines,  and  disciples.  It  was  edifying  and  interest- 
ing, and  occasionally  his  anecdote,  detailed  in  his  broad- 
est Scotch,  with  Ids  strong  Galloway  tone,  would  set  the 
gravest  of  them  in  a  roar. 

The  venerable  Daniel  Cargil  made  the  Torfoot  one  of 
his  retreats.  iJis  theological  learning  was  profound  ;  his 
manners  dignified ;  though  latterly  stern  and  severe. 
There  was  something  unusually  interesting  in  his  coun- 
tenance ;  there  was  that  in  it  whicii  struck  awe  into  the 
beholder,  and  at  the  same  time  something  so  lovely  and 
sweet,  that  he  gained  the  affection  of  all.  Nothing  could 
equal  his  fine  face,  when  lighted  up  by  the  excitement  of 
the  pulpit  exercise.  His  deep  toned  and  musical  voice 
was  in  perfect  unison  with  this  set  of  features ;  and  then 
his  singular  pathos,  which  revealed  the  sensibilities  of  his 
soul,  as  it  put  forth  its  powerful  energies  over  the  hearts 
of  his  audience,  produced  extraordinary  effects.  He  did 
not  terrify;  he  did  not  strike  the  mind  dumb  with  amaze- 
ment ;  the  audience  became  oppressed  with  sorrow  as  he 
spoke,  and  their  labouring  hearts  vented  their  feelings  in 
floods  of  tears.  He  was  connected  with  the  first  families 
near  Glasgow,  and  had  moved  in  the  first  circles ;  being 
minister  of  the  high  church  of  that  city,  he  had  been  the 
leading  man  in  that  section  of  the  church.  He  sacrificed 
all  worldly  honours  and  emoluments  for  the  love  of  reli- 
gion and  liberty ;  and  placed  himself  by  the  side  of  the 
patriots,  and  persecuted  ministry  of  Christ.  The  liberties 
of  his  country,  and  the  honour  of  his  master's  crown, 
were  dearer  to  him  than  riches,  than  friends,  than  rela- 
tions, than  life  itself. 

It  was  he  who  performed  the  most  heroic  ministerial 
action  that  is  recorded  in  church  history.  At  tiie  great 
meeting  in  Torwood  he  pronounced  the  formal  sentence 
of  ecclesiastical  excommunication  on  the  proudest  and 
highest  heads  in  the  land.  He  excommunicated  king 
Charles  II.  and  his  royal  brother,  James,  duke  of  York, 
and  the  counsellors  and  officers  of  the  tyrant.  If  we  ad- 
mit that  there  is  a  discipline  appointed  in  the  church  to 
reclaim  offenders ;  if  this  discipline  is  to  be  impartially 
executed ;  if  the  rich  members  as  well  as  the  poor,  if  ma- 


8  The  Froem. 

gistrates  as  ucll  as  suhjects  are,  as  cliurch  members, 
amenable  to  the  rulers  of  the  church,  who  o-uard  the  laws 
of  God  from  brutal  insults;  if  the  courts  of  Christ's  house 
know  neither  fatiicr  nor  mother,  king  nor  bei;2;ar,  then 
this  action  can  be  defended.  The  king  and  these  coun- 
sellors had  voluntarily  put  themselves  under  the  ecclesi- 
astical laAV.  They  had  been  received  into  the  commu- 
i)ion  of  the  church  ;  neither  wealth  nor  civil  offices  ought 
to  screen  notorious  delinquents.  Cargil  did  what  every 
lionest  minister  was  bound  by  the  solemn  vows  of  ordi- 
nation to  do.* 

And  let  the  lory  writers,  who  slander  such  men  as 
Cargil,  accept  of  the  challenge  which  he  threw  down  to 
his  enemies.  There  was  too  much  learning,  and  devo- 
tion, and  solid  intellect  in  CargiPs  soul  to  allow  him  to 
be  a  fanatic.  It  is  true  he  was  actuated  by  a  glorious  en- 
thusiasm in  the  greatest  of  causes.  This  enthusiastic 
lover  of  liberty  appealed  to  the  Almighty — he  laid  down 
this  challenge :  "  If  these  persons  whom  I  have  excom- 
municated, do  not  themselves  feel  and  acknowledge  this 
sentence  in  their  last  moments,  then  God  shall  not  have 
countenanced  this  common  exercise  of  the  discipline  of 
his  house.  But  if — "  This  was  perfectly  accordant  with 
our  Lord's  Avords,  ^'  Whatsoever  ye  shall  bind  on  earth 
shall  be  bound  in  heaven/'  The  fact  is  on  record,  that 
some  of  them  did  acknowledge,  with  anguish,  the  just- 
ness of  that  sentence ;  and,  perhaps,  no  annals  have  re- 
corded seven  similar  instances  of  such  unmingled  wretch- 
edness and  terror  in  the  last  moments  of  life,  as  these  all 
did.f 

It  is  impossible  not  to  contrast  with  this  the  last  mo- 
ments of  father  Cargil.  He  was  ordered  for  execution  by 
the  council.  He  met  death  with  unaltered  countenance, 
and  with  a  smile  at  the  violence  of  the  council ;  who  or- 
dered the  drums  to  beat  one  continued  roll,  that  his  last 
speech  and  prayer  might  not  reach  the  ears  of  the  spec- 

*  In  these  days  of  loose  and  degenerate  discipline,  nobody  is  surprised 
at  the  unhandsome  manner  in  which  Cook  has  expressed  the  sentiments 
of  modern  divines  on  this  subject.  Cook's  Hist.  Church  of  Scotland,  vol, 
iii.  ch.  26.  Compare  the  ancient  discipline,  M'Crie's  Knox,  note  NN,  p. 
491. 

t  Scottish  Worthies,  Life  of  Cargil,  p.  353.    Edin.  edit,   of  181" 
Cruikshank's  Hist,  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  vol.  ii.  ch.  4. 


The  Proenu  9 

viators.  The  last  words  of  this  venerable  minister  and 
^)atriot  were  :  ^'  Fareivell  all  relatives  and  friends  ;  fare- 
"-well  reading  and  j^reaching  ;  j^rmjing  and  believing ; 
'■^  wanderings,  reproaches,  and  sujferings — I  forgive  all 
*^  men  their  icrongs — JVow  welcome  Father,  Son,  and 
^'  Holy  Ghost — into  thy  hands  I.  commend  my  spirit.'^ 

And  llenvvick,  too,  was  one  of  the  group.  His  small 
stature  and  blooming  countenance,  seemed  ill  to  com|tort 
with  that  masculine,  unsubdued  soul,  with  which  lie  brav- 
ed (he  thunders  of  tyranny  ;  and  fearlessly  supported  the 
falling  standard  of  liberty  and  truth.  Laird  Thomas  was 
tenderly  attached  to  him,  and  lost  no  opportunity  of  pro- 
filing  by  his  instructive  coiiversation.  He  lived  also  to 
see  him  ascend,  on  a  ^^  fiery  wheel,''  to  the  martyr's 
crown,  amidst  an  universal  burst  of  anguish  from  the 
public. 

Among  the  distinguished  laymen  wlio  look  an  active 
part  in  the  conversations  of  this  group,  my  manuscript 
mentions  sir  Robert  Hamilton  ;  a  man  of  noble  descent, 
and  of  liberal  education.  B>it  the  sufferings  of  his  bleed- 
ing country  had  preyed  on  his  fine  mind,  and  had  render- 
ed his  manners  too  severe  for  the  ideas  of  those  who  ne- 
ver knew  the  feelings  of  the  patriot,  or  the  pangs  of  the 
martyr. 

There  was  also  general  Hackstone,  of  Ilathillet,  a  man 
of  tall  frame,  and  reserved  manners.  He  had  been  ac- 
cused of  the  murder  of  archbishop  Sharpe ;  but  it  is  a  fact 
well  known  among  those  fiery  spirits,  who  never  thought 
that  action  culpable,  that  he  was  entirely  innocent.  He 
opposed  it  from  the  first  with  warmth.  He  had  not  phy- 
sical power  to  prevent  it:  but  he  kept  aloof  from  the  com- 
pany, and  implored  the  party  to  spare  ^'  those  gray 
hairs." 

There  was  also,  sometimes,  seen  laird  Balfour,  of 
Burly,  a  military  character  of  great  skill  and  enterprise. 
He  had  made  great  sacrifices  to  the  idol  of  his  country's 
independence  and  the  liberties  of  the  church.  He  was  the 
leader  of  the  party  who  slew  the  archbishop.  Laird 
Thomas  never  admitted  him  into  his  protection  or  hospi- 
tality after  this  '« accursed  deed,^'  as  he  always  termed  it. 
But  uncle  John  insisted  on  comforting  him  :  he  called  it  a 
military  execution ;  and  sternly  defended  liim  on  the  law 

4 


10  The  Proem. 

of  votfilialion,  find  inilitary  reprisals  iu  open  war.  ^^  It  is 
to  he  decjihj  re^^veite.d  that  such  things  become  necessary,^' 
said  the  covenanter,  '^  but  it  is  icell  knoini  that  icar  has 
'^  been  jjnhlicly  carried  on  by  us,  according  to  our  declara- 
^'  tion.  That  priest  had  been  merged  in  the  civil  officer. 
<•  We  called  him  one  of  Charles's  executioners.  It  is  cer- 
"  tain  that  his  hands  have  been  dipped  in  human  gore  up 
*•  to  the  ivrists.  A'*uw  they  shoot  down  our  men  in  the 
'•^jield^i  icithout  form  of  trial.  Tlie  most  likely  way  to 
*'  stay  those  sanguinary  executions,  i^  to  let  them  see  that 
^^  our  troops  shall  do  the  same,  if  they  stop  vot.'^ 

Burly  went  to  Holland,  and  became  a  favourite  at  the 
court  of  the  prince,  afterwards  king  William.  He  was 
rcturnins:,  charged  with  a  commission,  but  he  died  on 
board  of  the  vessel,  before  he  reached  the  shores  of  his 
country.* 

Be.-ides,  I  see  the  names  of  captain  Nesbit  of  the  horse, 
the  gallant  colonel  Hall,  and  captain  Paton,  who  served 
in  the  wars  against  Cromwell,  in  England  and  in  Scot- 
land :  who  were  intimately  acquainted  with  the  state  of 
the  religious  parties  of  the  day. 

In  fine,  from  principal  Bailey,  and  from  John,  earl  of 
Loudon,  with  whose  conversations  he  had  been  honoured, 
lie  received  many  valuable  communications. 

We  naturally  wish  to  know  something  of  an  author 
Avhose  works  we  are  reading;  we  want  to  know  not  only 
liis  character,  but  his  features  and  appearance. 

The  laird's  studies  had  been  interrupted  by  the  horrid 
din  of  civil  war.  He  had  been  a  bookworm ;  but  he  had 
thrown  by  his  pen  for  his  sword.  He  was  enrolled  among 
the  horse  of  the  covenanters.  His  figure  w^as  tall  and 
martial ;  his  face  was  long  and  full;  his  nose  was  formed 
on  the  Roman  model ;  his  full  lips  disclosed  through  a 
smile  a  row  of  double  teeth  in  front,  as  white  as  ivory ; 
liis  brow  rose  high  over  a  pair  of  nobly  arched  eyebrows, 
as  black  as  jet ;  his  eyes  were  of  a  bright  chesnut  colour, 

*  In  the  inimitable  "  Old  Mortality,"  that  enchanting  writer  has  prac- 
tised the  ingenious  barbarity  of  the  ancient  persecutors.  He  has  dressed 
Burl\  in  the  skin  of  a  wild  beast,  and  has  let  slip  the  furious  dogs  on  him. 
The  fact  is,  he  mistook.  Buriey 's  character.  He  was  no  fanatic ;  he  never 
was  reckoned  religious  ;  he  had  no  cant  of  it  He  was  ambitious  only  of 
the  character  of  a  romantic  and  daring  military  chieftain,  on  the  weakj 
•side.     See  Burley's  Life,  in  the  Scots'  Worthies. 


U^ie  Proem.  11 

and  sparkled  with  uncommon  lustre;  he  wore  his  dark 
beard  long,  with  a  liberal  correspondence  of  whiskers. 
He  wore  a  liigh  steel  bead  piece,  surmounted  by  a  black 
feather.  His  large  chest  and  square  shoulders  were  en- 
veloped in  a  buff*  coat.  His  armour  was  a  short  carbine, 
and  a  massy  andro-ferrara ;  his  jackboots,  made  in  the 
terrible  fashion  of  the  day,  came  over  his  knees  ;  a  gray 
cloak  was  tlirown  carelessly  around  him — and  borne  along 
on  his  gray  steed,  he  felt  as  much  at  home  on  a  field  of 
battle,  as  at  an  argument  in  the  parlour,  or  a  dissertation 
in  the  cave  of  the  wanderers. 

His  temper  was  impetuous  in  argument,  and  more  so  in 
the  field  ;  and  sometimes  when  reason  and  remonstrance 
could  not  prevail  in  putting  a  stop  to  cruelty,  his  strong 
arm  would  interpose  with  his  ferrara.  There  was  an  in- 
stance of  this  after  the  battle  of  Hrumclog.  Vv  hen  Burley 
and  two  other  officers  moved  the  host  to  put  the  prisoners 
(soldiers  of  Clavers)  to  death,  by  way  of  reprisals  for 
the  murder  of  some  of  their  men;  and  when  the  ministers 
(Douglas  and  King)  and  laird  Thomas  could  not  suc- 
ceed in  putting  down  the  clamour  of  Surley,  by  any  ar- 
gument from  usage  antl  from  holy  writ,  the  laird  drew  his 
sword,  and  declared  that  if  Burley  should  dare  to  touch  a 
hair  of  their  heads,  his  sword  should  sever  his  head  from 
his  shoulders.* 

The  MS.  proceeds  to  detail  the  personal  adventures 
and  escapes  of  the  laird  and  his  brother.  The  following 
are  specimens : 

The  laird  and  his  benevolent  spouse  were  one  day  en- 
tertaining their  guests,  in  the  best  manner  that  their  house, 
so  often  pillaged  by  the  licensed  freebooters  of  Cdavers, 
could  afford,  when  the  herd  callan  came  running  in. 
*'  Speak  quickly,"  said  the  laird,  "  what  you  have  to 
say  with  that  gaping  mouth.  "  The  J'oemen  are  drivin' 
heevy  sceevy  doon  the  Snabe  Craff/'  said  the  stammering 
lad,  ^'  and  theyHl  be  here  in  a  giffy — rin,  sirs.^^ 

The  throwing  on  of  their  cloaks  and  hats  was  the  work 

*  The  poor  fellows  who  were  witnesses  of  this  debate,  were  dismissed. 
"  We  met  here  to  worship  God,"  said  the  laird,  "  You  come  to  murder 
**  us.  See,  we  return  you  good  for  evil  !  Your  hands  are  stained  with 
"blood — Go  wash  them,  live  and  repent."  They  gave  three  cheers  to 
their  deliverers,  and  fled  like  Indians. 


f2'  The  Froein. 

of  a  moment;  they  made  tcMards  the  willow  tliiclvct  irr 
the  adjacent  marsh,  and  tlie  cautious  dame  hastened  tore- 
move  all  traces  of  u;uests  having  been  at  her  board.    Jolui 
led  the  way ;  the  laird,  in  his  easjerness  to  help  on  the 
venerable  Cargil  and  Peden,  was  tlie  last  who  ajiproach- 
ed  the  covert.     They  were  all  safely  in  shelter,  when  the 
laird  discovered,  by  a  shout  fi'om  the  neighbouring  height, 
that  he  was  seen.    A  trooper,  w  ho  acted  as  sentin'il,  had 
takiMi  his  station  on  a  knoll  above  the  old  mansion  house, 
and  his  keen  eyes  fell  on  the  laird  struggling  through  the, 
swamp.     To  have  gone  forward  would  have  detected  all, 
^'  Better  lost  one  Ufe,'^  said   he,  "  than  sacrijice  all — 
^•'  Ji-epp  close  in  your  retreat:  your  host  is  the  scajje-goat ; 
»'  leave  me  to  my  fate.'^     He   had  instantly  formed    his 
plan.  He  stretched  his  course,  at  a  slow  pace,  toward  the 
southern  extremity  of  the  swamp.     The  trooper  coursed 
aronnd  on  the  highlands  to  receive  him.     He  had  rode  a 
semicircle  of  about  a  mile.     The  laird  gained  his  object. 
Before  became  v/ithin  reach  of  the  life-guard^s  carbine,  he 
faced  about,  and  made  a  s'ift  retreat  to  the  plains  on  the 
lower  part  of  his  dairy  lands,  at  the  junction  of  the  Aven 
and   the   Geel.     The  intrepid  soldier  saw,  and  took  a 
course  which  would  have  carried  him  directly  through  the 
bushes  where  the  sufferers  were  uttering  a  prayer  foi* 
their   host.     He  plunged  forward  :  but  after  a  few  vain 
struggles,  the  horse  and  his  rider  sunk  beneath  the  green 
sward,  and  rose  no  more.    The  laird,  n<»t  supposing  that 
the  soldier  v.  ould  attempt  the  marsh,  had  calculated  that 
he  would  return  by  the  same  course ;  and  he  was  sure 
that  he  could  gain  a  covert  before  his  pursuer  could  over- 
take him      On  seeing  his  fate,  he  was  returning,  with  tb 
speedy  step,  to  the  retreat  of  his  friends ;  but  before  he 
Gould  gain  it,  the  other  troopers,  having  by  this  time  finish- 
ed their  search  in  the  house,  perceived  him,  and  set  out 
in  full  chase  after  him.  "  That  wild  bugle  note,  that  roused 
'^  to  the  fierce  chase,  rung  on  my  ear,"  the  laird  often  re- 
peated, "  as  my  death  note."    He  instantly  turned  about 
again  ;  he  had  gained  the  plain;  he  had  waded  the  dark 
stream  o£^the  Aven  ;  he  was  struggling  up  a  steep  defile, 
when  a  trooper  came  up  with    him.     Unfortunately  the 
laird  wa^  unarmed.     He  faced  about   to   meet  his  fate. 
*'  i  have  at  least  sg,ved  my  friends/'  said  he,  ^^  and  lam 


Tlie  Proem.  13 

"  at  peace  ivitJi  my  God/^  The  dtagoou,  in  turning  an 
angle,  v.as  suddenly  on  him;  he  was  too  near  him  to 
slioot ;  lie  felled  him  with  his  carbine  to  the  ground.  At 
tiiat  moment  he  heard  the  loud  shouts  of  his  coniiades, 
who  had  discovered  a  ccmventicle,  at  that  moment,  dis- 
missing; or  some  of  the  wanderers  fleeing  to  the  rjoiin- 
tains  on  tiie  opposite  side  of  the  Aven,  in  consequence  of 
the  approach  of  the  dragoons.  His  speedy  retreat  to  join 
his  companions  saved  the  laird's  life,  for  the  blow  was  not 
repeated. 

The  next  adventure  represents  the  laird  and  his  brother 
John  taken  prisoners,  but  not  by  the  life-guards  ;  it  was 
by  some  of  Inglis'  troops.     Tiiey  were  marched  on  Kil- 
marnock.   As  they  passe{l  the  defiles  near  Lochgate,  and 
were  approaching  Loudon  hill,  in  a  dark  evening,  they 
effected   their  escape  from   the  dragoons   who   had   the 
charge  of  them.    It  was  in  consequence  of  the  laird's  ex- 
eiting  an  interest  in  the  bosoms  of  these  more  humane  fel- 
lows in  behalf  of  their  prisoners.     "  Jlly  jjoor  lady  and 
**  my  babes  aill  bless  you  for  the  favom%^'  said  the  laird^ 
grasping  his  hand,  and  enforcing  his  petition.     *^  Can  a 
*'  man — a  soldier,  refuse  me  my  Ife^  Ton  have  no  more 
*^  to  do  than  slip  us  ojffrom  this  bandage,  and  fire  ajjistol 
*^  over  our  heads  :  we  shall  give  you  no  further  trouble.^' 
A  tear  fell  from  tlje  eyes  of  the  dragoon,  as  he  made  the 
appeal  in  behalf  of  his  wife  and  babes  ;  and  a  smile  light- 
ed up   his   face  at  the  conclusion  of  the  laird's  speech. 
"  You  are  too  clever  a  fellow  to  go  before  the  council/^ 
said  he,  while  he  and  his  companion  (who  had  fallen  into 
the  rear)  secretly  unbuckled  the  belt  by  which  they  had 
lashed  their  prisoners  to  their  bodies.    They  slipped  oiT,. 
and  rushed  down  from  the  narrow  path  into  a  steej)  defile.^ 
The  dragoons  gave  tlie  instant  alarm,  and  fired  over  their 
heads;  the  place,  and  darkness  of  the  night,  rendered  all 
search  vain.  <'  JVever  doubt  my  powers  of  argument  after 
this,'^  said  the  laird  ;  ^'  if  i  can  reach  the  heaH  of  one  of 
^'^  Charlie'' s   dragoons,   I  surely  can   touch  Fux^s  con- 
"  science^     The  laird  often  told  this  anecdote  while  he 
sat  beside  his  dame,  with  a  babe  on  each  of  his  knees, 
and  he  delighted  to  add  how  his  andro-ferrara  saved  the 
life  of  this  same  dragoon,  at  the  battle  of  Bothwell,  from 
tlie  sword  of  Burley,  which  was  descending  on  his  head; 


14  The  Proem. 

and  which  would  have  cloven  him  to  the  teeth.  "  It  im^ 
'^  a  delicious  moment  amid  the  carnage  of  a  battle/'  he 
used  to  say.  '•  A  look  from  the  brave  fellow,  at  the  moment 
^•'  it'hen  he  felt  himself  brought  back  from  the  verge  of  eter- 
'*  nitij,  told  me  that  he  teas  more  than  repaid  for  all  that  he 
"  had  done  for  me.'' 

After  many  adventures,  laird  Thomas  was  taken  pri- 
soner at  the  battle  of  Bothwell.  By  some  unaccountable 
act  of  clemency,  he  was  doomed  only  to  banishment. 
The  vessel  sailed  for  Virginia,  with  two  hundred  and 
fifty  victims  of  religious  tyranny ;  but  the  ship  was  not 
destined  to  cross  the  Atlantic.  It  struck  on  the  Mule 
head  of  Darness,  near  the  Orkneys,  and  two  hundred  of 
the  wanderers  were  drowned.  Fifty  escaped — the  laird 
was  one  of  them.  He  was  thrown  on  the  waves;  a  surge 
carried  him  over  a  high  peak,  and  laid  him  on  the  top  of 
a  cliff;  he  was  washed  back  ;  another,  and  a  greater  bil- 
low, threw  him  battered  and  bruised  on  a  rock,  whence 
he  was  taken  by  some  humane  people;  and  in  spite  of 
Clavers  and  council,  and  winds  and  waves,  he  returned 
once  more,  by  the  grace  of  God,  to  bless  his  desolate  and 
afflicted  family.* 

The  laird  had  fought  in  different  battles  against  the 
enemies  of  his  country  and  of  the  kirk.  Of  Bothwell  he 
never  was  heard  to  say  much ;  of  Ayrsmoor  he  never  made 
mention  without  shedding  tears  over  the  memories  of 
Kichard  Cameron,  and  the  gallant  general  Hackstone  ; 
the  first  fell  by  his  side,  the  latter  was  taken  captive,  and 
literally  butchered,  and  his  limbs  suspended  on  the 
shambles  of  the  council ;  of  Drumclog  he  spoke  with  mi- 
litary enthusiasm. 

The  following  is  the  laird's  account  of  the  battle  :  the 
spelling  and  style  have,  of  course,  undergone  some  cor- 
rection. I  have  profited  also  by  family  tradition,  parti- 
cularly fiom  two  aunts,  the  last  of  whom  died  lately  in 
Pennsylvania,  aged  nearly  ninety.  She  was  the  grand- 
daughter of  the  laird's  second  son,  and  being  of  the  ge- 
nuine "  covenanting  branch  of  the  family,"  her  mind  was 
rich  in  the  traditions,  or  I  should  say  history  of  the  whigs. 

*  See  his  name,    Thomas   Brownlee  of  Avendale,  "  Cloud  of  Wit- 
nesses," p.  334,  Lond.  edit.    By  mistake  he  is  numbered  among  the  lost. 


The  Proem.  15 

THE  BATTLE  OF  DRUxMCLOG. 

"  EaSowro,  £««;:^ovto,  uvtitrttyty,  ATcSvocdcoy."      Xenopll. 

On  a  fair  Sabbath  morning  in  June,  of  A.  D.  1679,  an 
assembly  of  covenanters  sat  down  on  the  heathy  moun- 
tains of  Drumclog.  VV^e  liad  assembled  not  to  fight,  but 
to  worship  tlie  God  of  our  fathers.  We  w  ere  far  from  the 
tumult  of  cities.  The  long  dark  heath  waved  around  us, 
and  we  disturbed  no  living  creatures  saving  tiie  pees- 
"weep,*  and  the  heather-cock.  As  usual  we  had  come 
armed.  It  was  for  self-defence.  For  desperate  and  fe- 
rocious bands  made  bloody  raids  through  the  country. 
And  pretending  to  put  down  treason,  they  waged  war 
against  religion  and  morals.  They  spread  ruin  and  ha- 
voc over  the  face  of  bleeding  Scotland. 

The  venerable  Douglas  had  commenced  the  solem- 
nities of  the  day.  He  was  expatiating  on  the  execrable 
evils  of  tyranny.  Our  souls  were  on  lire  at  the  remem- 
brance of  our  country's  suiferings,  and  the  wrongs  of  the 
church.  In  this  moment  of  intense  feeling,  our  watch- 
man posted  on  the  neighbouriug  height,  tired  his  carbine, 
and  ran  toward  the  congregation.  He  announced  the  ap- 
proach of  tlie  enemy.  We  raised  our  eyes  to  the  minister. 
*^  I  have  done,"  said  Douglas,  with  his  usual  firmness. 
^^  You  have  got  the  theory,  now  for  the  practice ;  you 
know  you  duty ;  self-defence  is  always  lawful.  But  the 
enemy  approaches."  He  raised  his  eyes  to  heaven,  and 
uttered  a  prayer,  brief  and  emphatic,  like  the  prayer  of 
Kichard  Cameron.  "  Lord  spare  the  green,  and  take 
the  ripe." 

The  officers  collected  their  men,  and  placed  themselves 
each  at  the  head  of  those  of  his  own  district.  Sir  Robert 
Hamilton  placed  the  foot  in  the  centre,  in  three  ranks.  A 
company  of  horse,  well  armed  and  mounted,  was  placed 
on  the  left;  and  a  small  squadron  also  on  the  left.  These 
were  drawn  back,  and  they  occupied  the  more  solid 
ground  ;  as  well  with  a  view  to  have  a  more  firm  footing, 
as  to  arrest  any  flanking  party  that  might  take  them  on 
the  wings.  A  deep  morass  lay  between  us  and  the  ground 
of  the  enemy.     Our  aged  men,  our  females  and  children 

*  AnglicCi  Teewit,  or  lapwing. 


16  The  Proem. 

retired.  But  they  retired  slowly.  They  had  the  hearts 
and  the  courage  of  the  females  and  children  in  i!i(t-;e  days 
of  intense  religious  feelini;\  and  of  j^nfiering.  They  mani- 
fested more  concern  for  tlie  fate  of  relativ  es — for  the  fate 
of  the  church,  than  for  their  own  personal  safety.  As 
Claverhousc  descended  t!ie  opposite  raouiitains,  they  re- 
tired to  the  rising  ground  in  the  rear  of  our  host.  Tiie 
aged  men  walked  with  their  bonnets  in  liand.  Their  lotig 
gray  locks  waved  in  the  breeze.  They  sang  a  cheering 
pscilm.  The  music  was  tliat  of  the  well  known  tune  of 
the  ^'•'  ^lartyrs;"  and  the  sentiment  breathed  detiance. 
The  music  floated  down  on  the  wind.  Our  men  gave 
them  three  cheers  as  they  fell  into  their  ranks.  Never 
did  I  witness  such  aniuiafion  in  the  looks  of  men.  For 
me,  my  spouse,  and  my  little  children  were  in  the  rear. 
My  native  [)lains,  and  the  halls  of  my  father,  far  below, 
in  the  dale  of  Aven,  were  full  in  view,  from  the  heights 
"which  we  occupied.  My  country  seemed  to  raise  her 
voice — tlie  Ijleeding  church  seemed  to  wail  aloud,  *•  And 
these/''  1  said,  as  (31avers  and  his  troops  winded  slovvly 
down  the  dark  mountain's  side,  "these  are  the  unworthy 
slaves,  and  bloody  executioners,  by  which  the  tyrant 
completes  our  raiserie>." 

Hamilton  here  displayed  th€  hero.  His  portly  figure 
was  seen  hastening  from  rank  to  rank.  He  inspired 
courage  into  our  raw  and  undisciplined  troops.  The 
brave  Hackstone,  and  Hall,  of  Haughhead,  stood  at  the 
liead  of  the  foot,  and  re-echoed  the  sentiments  of  their 
chief.  Burley  and  Cleland  had  iniiamed  the  minds  of  the 
horsemen  on  the  left,  to  a  noble  enthusiasm.  My  small 
troop  on  the  right,  needed  no  exhortation.  We  were  a 
band  of  brothers,  resolved  to  conquer  or  fall. 

The  trumpet  of  Clavers  sounded  a  loud  note  of  defi- 
ance. The  kettle-drum  mixed  its  tumultuous  roll  They 
halted.  They  made  a  long  pause.  We  could  see  an  offi- 
cer with  four  file,  conducting  fifteen  persons  from  the 
ranks,  to  a  knoll  on  their  left.  1  could  perceive  one  in 
black.  It  was  my  friend  King,  the  chaplain  of  lord  Car- 
dross,  who  had  been  taken  prisoner  by  Clavers,  at  Ha- 
milton. "  Let  them  be  shot  through  the  head,"  said 
Clavers,  with  his  usual  dry  way,  "  if  they  should  ofler 
to  run  away.''    We  could  isee  him  view  our  position  with 


TJie  Proem.  17 

great  care.     His  officers  came  arouiul  him.     We  soon 
learned  tliat  he  wished  to  treat  with  us.     He  never  he- 
trayed  symptoms  of  mercy  or  of  justice,  nor  offered  terms 
of  reconciliation,  unless  when  he  dreaded  that  he  had  met 
his  match.     And  even  then  it  was  only  a  manoeuvre  to 
gain  time,  or  to  deceive.     Mis  flag  approaclied  the  edge 
of  the  hog.     Sir  Robert  held  a  flag  sacred  ;  had  it  been 
borne  by  Clavers  himself,  he  had  honoured  it.     He  de- 
manded  the   purpose    for  which  he  came.     "  I  came," 
vsaid  he,  "  in  the  name  of  his  sacred  majesty,  and  of  col. 
Grahame,  to  offer  you  a  pardon,  on  condition  that  you  lay 
down   your   arms,    and    deliver   up    your   ringleaders." 
*^Tell  your  officer,"  said  sir  Robert,  ^'  that  we  are  fully 
aware  of  the  deception  he  practises.     He  is  not  clothed 
with  any  powers  to  treat,  nor  was  he  sent  out  to  treat  with 
us,  and  attempt  a  reconciliation.  The  government  against 
whom  we  have  risen,  refuses  to  redress  our  grievances,  or 
to  restore  ws  our  liberties.    Had  the  tyrant  wished  to  ren- 
der us  justice,  he  had  not  sent  by  the  hands  of  such  a  fe- 
rocious assassin  as  Claverhouse.  Let  him,  however,  show 
his  powers,  and  we  refuse  not  to  treat.  And  we  shall  lay 
down  our  arms  to  treat,  provided  that  he  also  lay  down 
his.  Thou  hast  my  answer."     ^*  It  is  a  hopeless  cause," 
said  Burley,  while  lie  called  after  the  flag.    '^  Let  me  add 
one  word,  by  your  leave,  general — Get  thee  up  to  that 
bloody  dragoon,  Clavers,  and  tell  him  that  we  will  spare 
his  life,  and  the  lives  of  his  troops,  on  condition  that  he, 
your  Clavers,  lay  down  his  arms,  and  the  arms  of  these 
troops.     We  will  do  more ;  as  we  have  no  prisons   on 
these  wild  mountains,  we  will  even  let  him  go  on  his  pa- 
role, on  condition  that  he  swear  never  to  lift  arms  against 
the  religion  and  the  liberties  of  his  country."  A  loudburst 
of  applause  re-echoed  from  the  ranks;  and  after  a   long 
pause  in  deep  silence,  the  army  sang  the  psalm  yet  sung 
in  the  Scottish  churches. 

"  These  arrows  of  the  bow  he  break, 

The  shield,  the  sword,  the  war ; 
More  glorious  thou  than  hills  of  prey, 

More  excellent  art  far. 

Those  that  are  stout  of  heart  are  spoil'd, 

They  slept  their  sleep  outright, 
And  none  of  them  their  hands  did  find, 

That  were  the  men  of  might."     &c. 
5 


18  The  Vroem. 

When  the  report  was  made  to  Claverhouse,  he  gave  the 
word  \A  ilh  a  savage  ferocity.  "  Their  hlood  he  on  their 
own  heads.  Be  no  quarters  the  word  this  day."*  His 
fierce  dragoons  raised  a  yell,  and  no  quarters  re-echoed 
from  rank  to  rank,  while  they  galloped  down  the  moun- 
tain's side.  It  is  stated  that  Burley  was  heard  to  say, 
*'  Ti)en  he  it  so — even  let  there  he  no  quarters — at  least 
in  my  wing  of  the  host.  So  God  send  me  a  meeting/' 
cried  he  aloud,  "  with  that  chief  under  the  white  plume. 
My  country  would  bless  my  memory,  could  my  sword 
give  his  villanous  carcase  to  the  crows." 

Our  raw  troops  beheld,  with  firmness,  the  approach  of 
the  foemen  ;  and  at  the  moment  when  the  enemy  halted  to 
fire,  the  whole  of  our  foot  dropton  the  heath.  Not  a  man 
was  seen  to  remain  down,  when  the  order  was  given  to 
rise,  and  return  the  fire.  The  first  rank  fired,  then  kneeled 
down,  while  the  second  fired.  They  made  each  bullet 
tell.  As  often  as  the  lazy  rolling  smoke  Avas  carried  over 
the  enemy's  heads,  a  shower  of  bullets  fell  on  his  ranks. 
Many  a  gallant  man  tumbled  on  the  heath.  The  fire  was 
incessant.  It  resembled  one  blazing  sheet  of  flame,  for 
several  minutes  along  the  line  of  the  covenanters,  t'lavers 
attempted  to  cross  the  morass,  and  break  our  centre. 
*•  Spearmen!  to  the  front,"  I  could  hear  the  deep-toned 
voice  of  Hamilton  say,  "  Kneel,  and  place  your  spears  to 
receive  the  enemy's  cavalry  ;  and  you,  my  gallant  fellows, 
fire — God  and  our  Country,  is  our  word."  Our  officers 
flew  from  rank  to  rank.  Not  a  peasant  gave  way  that  day. 
As  the  smoke  rolled  oif,  we  could  see  Clavers  urging  on 
Lis  men  with  the  violence  of  despair.  His  troops  fell  in 
hea{)s  around  him,  and  still  the  gaps  were  filled  up.  A 
galled  trooper  Avouid  occasioimlly  flinch  ;  but  ere  he  could 
turn  or  flee,  the  sword  of  Clavers  was  waving  over  his 
head.  I  could  see  him  in  his  fury  strike  both  man  and 
horse.  In  the  fearful  carnage  he  himself  sometimes  reel- 
ed. He  would  siop  short  in  the  midst  of  a  movement: 
then  contradict  his  own  orders,  and  strike  the  man  be- 
cause he  could  not  comprehend  his  meaning. 

He  ordered  flanking  parties  to  take  us  on  our  right  and 
left.     "  In  the  name  of  God,"  cried  he,  "  cross  the  bog, 

*  This  fact  I  find  stated  also  in  the  "  Scots  Worthies,"  p.  408.  Edinb. 
Edit,  of  IS  12. 


The  Proem.  19 

ami  charge  them  on  the  flaaks,  till  we  get  over  this  morass. 
If  this  fail,  we  are  lost." 

It  now  fell  to  my  lot  to  come  into  action.  Hitherto  we 
had  fired  only  some  distant  shot.  A  gallant  officer  led  his 
band  down  on  the  borders  of  tlie  swamp,  in  search  of  a 
proper  place  to  cross.  We  threw  ourselves  before  him. 
A  severe  firing  commenced.  My  gallant  men  fired  with 
great  steadiness.  Yv  e  coiild  see  many  tumbling  from  their 
saddles.  Not  content  with  rej)elling  the  foen)en,  we  found 
our  opportunity  to  cross,  and  attacked  them  sword  in 
hand.  The  captain,  whose  name  I  afterwards  ascertained 
to  be  Arrol,  threw  himself  in  my  path.  In  the  first  shock 
I  discharged  my  pistols.  IJis  sudden  start  in  his  saddle 
told  me  that  one  of  them  had  taken  effect.  With  one  of 
the  tremendous  oaths  of  Charles  II.  he  closed  with  me. 
He  fired  his  steel  pistol — I  was  in  front  of  him.  My 
sword  glanced  on  the  weapon,  and  gave  a  direction  to  the 
bullet  which  saved  my  life.  J5y  this  time  my  men  had 
driven  the  enemy  before  them,  and  had  left  the  ground 
clear  for  the  single  combat.  As  he  made  a  lounge  at  my 
breast,  I  turned  his  sword  aside^  by  one  of  those  sweep- 
ing blows,  which  are  rather  the  dictate  of  a  kind  of  iu- 
stict  of  self-defence,  than  a  movement  of  art.  As  our 
strokes  redoubled,  my  antagonist's  dark  features  put  on  a 
look  of  deep  and  settled  ferocity.  No  man,  who  has  not 
encountered  the  steel  of  his  enemy  in  the  field  of  battle, 
can  conceive  the  looks,  and  the  manner  of  the  warrior  in 
the  moments  of  his  intense  feelings.  May  I  never  witness 
them  again.  We  fought  in  silence.  My  stroke  fell  on 
his  left  shoulder — it  cut  the  belt  of  his  carbine,  which  fe'l 
to  the  ground.  His  blow  cut  me  to  the  rib,  glanced  along 
the  bone,  and  rid  me  also  of  the  weight  of  my  carbine.  He 
had  now  advanced  too  near  me  to  l)e  struck  with  the 
sword — I  grasped  him  by  the  collar;  I  pushed  him  back- 
ward, and  with  an  entangled  blow  of  my  ferrara  I  struck 
him  across  his  throat.  It  cut  only  the  strap  of  his  head- 
piece, and  it  fell  off.  AVith  a  sudden  spring  he  seized  me 
by  the  sword  belt — our  horses  reared,  and  we  both  came 
to  the  ground.  We  rolled  on  the  heath  in  deadly  con- 
flict. It  was  in  this  situation  of  matters  that  my  brave  fel- 
lows had  returned  from  the  rout  of  the  flanking  party,  to 
look  after  their  commander.     One  of  them  was  actually 


20  The  Proem. 

I'lisliing  on  my  antagonist,  when  I  called  to  him  to  re- 
tiv'/.*  We  started  to  our  feet,  Each  grasped  his  sword. 
We  closed  in  conflict  again.  After  parrying  strokes  of 
mine  enemy,  which  indicated  a  hellish  ferocity,  I  told  him 
my  object  was  to  take  him  prisoner ;  that  sooner  than  kill 
liini,  I  should  order  my  men  to  seize  him.  '^  Sooner  let 
my  soul  be  brandered  on  my  ribs  in  hell,"  said  he,  '•  than 
be  captured  by  a  whigamore.  .Ao  quarter  is  the  word  of 
my  colonel,  and  my  word.  Have  at  thee  whig — 1  dare 
the  whole  of  you  to  the  combat."  "  Leave  tlie  madman 
to  me — leave  the  field  instantly,"  said  I  to  my  party, 
whom  1  could  hardly  restrain.  My  sword  fell  on  his 
right  shoulder.  His  sword  dropt  from  his  hand.  I  low- 
ered my  sword,  and  offered  him  his  life.  '^  JS'*u  quarter,^ 
said  he  witli  a  shriek  of  despair.  He  snatched  his  sword, 
Aviiich  1  held  in  my  hand,  and  made  a  plunge  at  my  breast. 
I  parried  his  blows,  till  he  was  nearly  exhausted.  But 
gathering  up  his  huge  limbs,  he  put  forth  all  his  energy 
in  a  thrust  at  my  heart.  My  audro-ferrara  received  it  so 
as  to  weaken  its  deadly  force;  but  it  made  a  deep  cut. 
Though  I  was  faint  with  loss  of  blood,  I  left  him  no 
time  for  another  blow.  My  sword  glanced  on  his  shoul- 
der, cut  thn^ugii  his  buiT  coat,  and  skin,  and  flesh  ;  swept 
through  his  javt ,  and  laid  open  his  throat  from  ear  to  ear. 
The  lire  of  his  ferocious  eye  was  quenched  in  a  moment. 
He  reeled — and  failing  with  a  terrible  clash,  he  poured 
out  his  soul  v.'ith  .a  torrent  of  blood  on  the  heath.  I  sunk 
down  insensible  for  a  moment.  My  faithful  men,  who 
never  lost  sight  of  me,  raised  me  up.  In  the  fierce  combat 
the  soldier  suffers  most  from  thirst.  1  stooped  down  to  fill 
my  helmet  with  the  water  which  oozed  through  the  mo- 
rass. It  was  deeply  tinged  with  human  blood,  which 
flowed  in  the  cor-flict  above  me.  I  started  back  with  hor- 
ror;  and  Gawn  Witherspoon  briiiging  up  my  steed,  we 
set  forv^ard  into  the  tumult  of  the  battle. 

All  this  while  the  storm  of  war  had  raged  on  our  left. 
Cleland,  and  the  fierce  Burley,  had  charged  the  strong 
company  sent  to  flank  them.  These  officers  permitted 
them  to  cross  the  swamp ;  then  charged  them  with  a  ter- 

*  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  the  laird  used  these  words:  "  Bauldy 
Allison!  let  your  officer  settle  this  trifle — I  nevei  take  odds  to  combat  a 
tye,  be  he  even  a  life-guard.'' 


The  Proem.  21 

rible  shout.  ^^  No  quarter/'  cried  the  dragoons.  ^^  Be  no 
quarter  to  you,  then,  ye  murderous  loons,"  cried  Burley, 
and  at  one  blow  he  cut  their  leader  through  the  steel  cap; 
and  scattered  his  brains  on  his  followers.  His  every  blow 
overthrew  a  foeman.  Their  whole  forces  were  now 
broight  up,  and  they  drove  the  dragoons  of  Clavers  into 
the  swamp.  They  rolled  over  each  other.  All  stuck  fast. 
The  covenanters  dismounted,  and  fought  on  foot.  They 
left  not  one  man  to  bear  the  tidiijgs  to  their  colonel. 

The  firing  of  the  platoons  had  long  ago  ceased  ;  and 
the  (headful  work  of  death  was  carriei!  on  by  the  sword. 
At  this  moment  a  trumpet  was  heard  in  the  rear  of  our 
array.  There  was  an  awful  pause.  All  looked  up.  It 
was  only  the  gallant  capt.  Nesbit,  and  his  guide  Wood- 
burn  of  Mains.  He  had  no  reinforcement  for  us — but 
himself  was  a  host.  With  a  loud  huzza  and  flourish  of 
his  sword_,  he  placed  himself  by  the  side  of  Burley,  and 
cried,  "jump  the  ditch,  and  cliarge  the  enemy."  He 
and  Burley  struggled  through  the  marsh — the  men  fol- 
lowed as  they  could.  They  formed  and  marched  on  the 
enemy's  right  flank. 

At  this  instant  Hamilton  and  Hackslone  brought  for- 
ward the  whole  line  of  infantry  in  front.  "  God  and  our 
country,"  re-echoed  from  all  the  ranks.  "  No  quarters," 
said  the  fierce  squadrons  of  Clavers.  Here  commenced  a 
bloody  scene. 

I  seized  the  opportunity  this  moment  offered  to  me,  of 
making  a  movement  on  the  left  of  the  enemy,  to  save  my 
friend  King,  and  the  other  prisoners.  We  came  in  time 
to  save  them.  Our  swords  speedily  severed  the  ropes 
which  tyranny  had  bound  on  the  arras  of  the  men.  The 
weapons  of  the  fallen  foe  supplied  what  was  lacking  of 
arms ;  and  with  great  vigour  we  moved  forward  to  charge 
the  enemy  on  the  left  flank.  Claverhouse  formed  a  hol- 
low square — himself  in  the  centre.  His  men  fought  gal- 
lantly. They  did  all  that  soldiers  could  do  in  their  situ- 
ation. W  herever  a  gap  was  made,  Clavers  thrust  the 
men  forward,  and  speedily  filled  it  up.  Three  times  he 
rolled  headlong  on  the  heath,  as  he  hastened  from  rank  to 
rank,  and  as  often  he  remounted.  My  little  band  thinned 
his  ranks.  He  paid  us  a  visit.  Here  I  distinctly  saw  the 
features  and  shape  of  this  far-famed  man.    He  was  small 


23  The  Proem, 

of  stature,  and  not  well  formed  ;  his  arras  were  long  in 
proportion  to  his  legs.  He  had  a  complexion  unusually 
dark.  His  features  were  not  lighted  up  with  sprightli- 
ness,  as  some  fabulously  reported.  They  seemed  gloomy 
as  hell.  His  cheeks  were  lank  and  deeply  furrowed. 
His  eye-brows  were  drawn  down,  and  gathered  into  a 
kind  of  knot  at  their  junctions,  and  thrown  up  at  their 
extremities.  They  had,  in  short,  the  strong  expressi(ui 
given  by  our  painters  to  the  face  of  Judas  Iscariot.  His 
eyes  w^ere  hollow;  tliey  had  not  the  lustre  of  genius,  nor 
the  fire  of  vivacity.  They  were  lighted  up  by  that  dark 
fire  of  wrath,  whicli  is  kindled  and  fanned  by  an 
eternal  anxiety,  and  consciousness  of  criminal  deeds. 
His  irregular  and  large  teeth  were  presented  through  a 
smile  which  was  very  unnatural  on  his  set  of  features. 
His  mouth  seemed  to  be  unusually  large,  from  the  ex- 
tremities being  drawn  backward  and  downward — as  if 
in  the  intense  application  to  something  cruel  and  digust- 
iug.  In  short,  his  upper  teeth  projected  over  liis  under 
lip :  and  on  the  whole,  presented  to  my  view  the  mouth 
on  the  image  of  the  emperor  Julian  Apostate.  In  one  of 
his  rapid  courses  past  us,  my  sword  could  only  shear 
off  his  white  plume  and  a  fragment  of  his  l)uff  coat.  In 
a  moment  he  was  at  the  other  side  of  his  square.  Our 
officers  eagerly  sought  a  meeting  with  him.  "  He  has 
the  proof  of  lead,*'  cried  some  of  our  men.  "  Take  the 
cold  steel  or  a  piece  of  silver.**  "  No,'*  cried  Burley,  "  it 
is  his  rapid  movement  on  that  fine  charger,  that  bids  de- 
fiance to  any  thing  like  an  aim,  in  the  tumult  of  the 
bloody  fray.  I  could  sooner  shoot  ten  heather-cocks  on 
the  wing,  than  one  flying  Clavcrs.''  At  that  moment, 
Burley,  whose  eye  watched  his  antagonist,  rushed  into 
the  hollow  square.  But  Burley  was  too  impatient.  His 
blow  was  levelled  at  him  before  he  came  within  its 
reach.  His  heavy  sword  descended  on  the  head  of  Cla- 
vers*  horse  and  felled  him  to  the  ground.  Burley *s  men 
rushed  pell  mell  on  the  fallen  Clavers.  But  his  faithful 
diagoons  threw  themselves  upon  them,  aud  by  their 
overpowering  force  drove  Burley  back.  Clavers  was  in 
an  instant  on  a  fresh  steed.  His  bugleman  recalled  the 
party  who  were  driving  back  the  flanking  party  of  Burley. 
He  collected  his  whole  troops  to  make  his  last  and  des- 


The  Proem.  23 

peratc  attack.  He  cliargcd  onr  infantry  with  such  force 
that  they  bei^an  to  reel.  It  was  only  for  a  moment.  The 
gallant  Hamilton  snatched  the  white  flag  of  the  covenant 
and  placed  himself  in  the  fore  front  of  the  battle.  Oar 
men  shouted,  ''  God  and  our  country/'  and  rallied  un- 
der their  flag.  Tiiey  fought  like  heroes.  Clavers  fought 
no  less  bravely.  His  blows  were  aimed  at  our  officers. 
His  steel  fell  on  the  helmet  of  Hackstone,  whose  sword 
was  entangled  in  the  body  of  a  fierce  dragoon,  who  had 
just  wounded  him.  He  was  borne  by  his  men  into  the 
rear.  I  directed  my  men  on  Clavers.  "Victory  or 
death,''  was  their  reply  to  me.  Clavers  received  us. 
He  struck  a  desperate  blow,  as  he  raised  himself  with  all 
his  force  in  the  saddle.  My  steel  cap  resisted  it.  The 
second  stroke  I  received  on  my  ferrara,  and  his  steel  was 
shivered  to  pieces.  We  rushed  headlong  on  each  other. 
His  pistol  missed  fire.  It  had  been  soaked  in  blood. 
Mine  took  effect.  But  the  wound  was  not  deadly.  Our 
horses  reared.  We  rolled  on  the  ground.  In  vain  we 
sought  to  grasp  each  other.  In  the  melee  men  and  horse 
tumbled  on  us.  We  were  for  a  few  moments  buried  un- 
der our  men,  whose  eagerness  to  save  their  respective 
officers,  brought  them  in  multitudes  upon  us.  By  the 
aid  of  my  faithful  man  Gaun,  I  had  extricated  myself 
from  my  fallen  horse  :  and  we  were  rushing  on  the  bloody 
Clavers,  when  we  were  again  literally  buried  under  a 
mass  of  men.  For  Hamilton  had  by  this  time,  brought 
up  his  whole  line,  and  he  had  planted  his  standard 
where  we  and  Clavers  were  rolling  on  the  heath.  Our 
men  gave  three  cheers,  and  drove  in  the  troops  of  Cla- 
vers. Here  I  was  borne  along  by  the  moving  mass  of 
men.  And  almost  suffocated,  and  faint  with  tiie  loss  of 
blood — I  knew  nothing  more  till  I  opened  m^'^  eyes  on 
my  faithful  attendant.  He  had  dragged  me  from  the  very 
grasp  of  the  enemy,  and  had  borne  me  into  the  rear — 
and  was  batliing  my  temples  with  water.  We  speedily 
regained  our  friends.  And  what  a  spectacle  presented 
itself.  It  seemed  that  I  beheld  an  immense  moving  mass 
heaped  up  together  in  the  greatest  confusion.  Some 
shrieked  :  some  groaned  ;  some  shouted  ;  horses  neighed 
and  pranced  ;  swords  rung  on  the  steel  helmets.  I  placed 
around  me  a  few  of  my  hardy  men,  and  we  rushed  into 


24  The  Vroem. 

the  thickest  of  the  enemy  in  search  of  Clavers.  But  it 
was  in  vain.  At  that  instant  iiis  trumpet  sounded  the 
loud  note  of  retreat ;  and  we  saw  on  a  knoll  ('lavers 
borne  away  by  his  men.  He  threw  himself  on  a  horse, 
and  without  sword,  without  helmet,  lie  ted  in  the  first 
ranks  of  the  retreating  host. — His  troops  galloped  up 
the  hill  in  the  utmost  confusion.  My  little  line  closed 
with  that  of  Burley's  and  took  a  numl)er  of  prisoners. 
Our  main  body  pursued  the  enemy  two  miles^  and  strew- 
ed the  ground  with  men  and  horses.  I  could  see  the 
bare-headed  Clavers  in  front  of  his  men,  kicking  and 
struggling  up  the  steep  sides  of  Calder  hill.  He  halted 
only  a  moment  on  the  top  to  look  behind  him ;  tiien 
plunged  his  rowels  into  his  horse  and  darted  forward. 
Nor  did  he  recover  from  his  panic  till  he  found  himself 
in  the  city  of  Glasgow." 

"And,  my  children,"'  the  laird  would  say,  after  he 
had  told  the  adventures  of  this  bloody  day,  "  1  visited 
the  field  of  battle  next  day.  1  shall  never  forget  the 
sight.  Men  and  horses  lay  on  their  gory  beds.  I  turned 
away  from  the  horrible  spectacle.  1  passed  by  the  spot, 
where  God  saved  my  life  in  the  single  combat ;  and 
where  the  unhapj)y  captain  Arrol  fell.  1  observed  that 
in  the  subsequent  fray,  tiie  hody  had  been  trampled  upon 
by  a  horse  ;  and  his  bowels  were  poured  out.* — Thus, 
my  children,  the  defence  of  our  lives  and  the  regaining 
of  liberty  and  religion,  has  subjected  us  to  severe  trials. 
And  how  great  must  be  the  love  of  liberty,  when  it 
carries  men  forward,  under  the  impulse  of  self-defence, 
to  witness  the  most  disgusting  spectacles  and  to  encounter 
the  most  cruel  hardships  of  vrar.'^ 

*****  <i  After  the  ranks  of  the  patriotic  wiiigs 
were  broken  by  overwhelming  forces ;  and  while  Dal- 
zell  and  Clavers  swept  the  soutli  and  west  of  Scotland 
like  the  blast  of  the  desert,  breathing  pestilence  and 
death — the  individual  wanderers  betook  themselves  (o 
the  caves  and  fastnesses  of  their  rugged  country.  This 
was  their  situation,  chiefly  from  A..  D.  1680,  to  the 
revolution.  Tiie  laird  spent  his  days  in  seclusion : 
but  still  he  fearlessly  attended  the  weekly  assemblies,  in 

*  I  find  this  fact  recorded  in  Crookshp.nk's  Hist.  vol.  I.  chap.  13      But 
the  author  docs  not  mcauon  theniimt;  of  the  laird  by  whom  Arrol  fell. 


TJieProetii.  S5 

the  fields,   for  the  worship  of  Aimiii;hty  Goil.     What 
had  he  to  fear?   AVhat  more   could  he  loose?    His  estate 
had    heen  confiscated  :   his  wife  and  babes  stript,  by  the 
life  £;iiards,  of  the  last  vemnant  of  earthly  comfort,  which 
they  could  take  away  :    and  himself  doomed,  as  an  out- 
law,  to  be  executed   by  these  military  assassins,    when 
taken.  He  became  reckless  of  the  world,   "  1  have  lived,'' 
said   he   in   anguish,   '^  to  see  a  prince  twice,  of  his  own 
choice,  take  the  oath  of  the  covenants  to  support  religion, 
and  the  fundamental  laws  of  tise  land.     I   have  lived   to 
see  that  prince  turn  traitor  to  his  country  :    and  with  un- 
hlushing  impiety,   order  these   covenants  to  be  burnt  by 
the   hands  of  the  executioner.     I  have  seen  hisn  subvert 
the  liberty  of  my  country,  both  civil  andrelii^ious  ;  1  have 
seen  him  erect  a  bloody  inquisition.     The  priests,  im- 
posed on  us  by  tyranny,  instead  of  wooing  us  over  by  the 
loveliness  of  religion,  have  tlirown  off  the  bowels  of  mer- 
cy.    They   occupy  seats  in  tlie  bloody  council.     They 
stimulate   the  cruelties    of  Lauderdale,  M^Kenzie    and 
York.    Their  hands  are  dipt  in  blood  to  the  wrists.  This^ 
council  will  not  permit  us  to  live  in  peace.    Our  property 
they  confiscate.     Our  houses  they  convert  into  barracks. 
They  drag  free  men  into  chains.     They  bring  no    wit- 
nesses of  our  guilt.     They  invent  new  tortures  to  convert 
us.     They   employ  the  thumbscrews  and  bootkins.     If 
we  are  silent,  they  condemn  us.    If  we  confess  eur  chris« 
tian  creed,  they  doom  us  to  the  gibbet.    If  we  oiier  a  de- 
fence, a  judge  rises  from  the  bench,  and  with  his  naked 
sword  wounds  us.*    Not  ooly  our  sentence,  but  the  man- 
ner of  our  execution  are  fixed  before  our  trial.     In   our 
last  moments  they  command  the  kettle  drum  to  beat  one 
continued  roll.     And  when   a  strong  sense  of  injustice 
extorts  a   complaint   against  our  barbarous  treatment,  a 
military  servant  of  the  council,  strikes  the  dying  man  iu 
his  last  moments. t     And    as   if  this  sanguinary  process 
were   too  slow  in   extirpating  us — I  have  seen  Charles 
Stewart  let  loose  a  brutal  soldiery  on  us  ...  .  on  us  who 
recalled  him  from  exile  ;  and  who  placed  the  crown  on 
his   head.     He  has  murdered  our  men,    our  wives,  and 

*  See  an  instance  recorded  in  Scots'  Worthies,  p.  378,  Edin.  1813. 
t  See  an  instance  in  Crookshank's  Hist.  vol.  II.  chap.  7.  p.  127.  Edii 
of  181? 

6. 


26  The  Proem. 

our  children.  We  have  indeed  formally  renounced  thk 
tyrant  by  declaring  war  against  him.  But  we  have 
hitherto  failed  in  the  attempt  to  rouse  the  energies  of  our 
sleeping  country.  It  is  sunk  into  a  deadly  slumber.  It 
has  hitherto  permitted  the  tyrant  to  keep  us  under  mar- 
tial law.  Clavers  is  our  judge.  His  dragoons  are  the 
executioners.  And  these  savages  do  still  continue  to 
employ  even  the  sagacity  of  blaodhoimds  to  hunt  us  down. 
My  soul  turns  away  from  these  loathsome  spectacles. 
They  have  cut  in  pieces  the  friends  and  companions  of 
my  youth.  M'Kail,  and  Kid,  and  King,  are  no  more. 
Cameron  fell  bleeding  at  my  side.  Hackstonc  tbey  have 
cruelly  butchered.  My  father  Cargil — they  could  not 
spare  even  thee  !  Nor  thee,  dear  young  iienwick  !  Brown 
fell  by  the  bloody  Chivers,  at  the  feet  of  his  wife  and 
crying  babes.  I  have  seen  my  friends  and  those  in 
"whose  veins  my  blood  runs,  fall  in  the  ranks  on  bloody 
Bothwell,  as  the  golden  Howers  of  the  meadow  beneath 
the  mower's  hand.  I  have  seen  the  greedy  axe  of  the  in- 
human executioner  mangle  the  limbs  of  my  dearest 
friends.  I  have  seen  the  minions  of  tyranny  perform  their 
disgusting  service  of  transporting  and  suspending,  as  on 
shambli^sy  the  bleeding  limbs  of  the  martyrs.  I  have 
seen  the  hammer  of  the  barbarians  fix  the  head  of  my 
companions  on  thy  walls,  O  bloody  Edinburgh.  And  Oh! 
disgusting  spectacle  !  I  have  seen  these  forms,  once  dear  to 
my  soul  as  the  light  of  heaven,  become  naked  and  bleach- 
ed bones,  under  the  rain  and  sun.  I  have  lived  to  see  the 
dreadful  effects  of  civil  war.  The  frequent  butchery  in 
fields,  and  on  the  scaffolds,  has  rendered  men  callous. 
The  ghastly  heads,  and  mangled  quarters  are  set  up  be- 
fore the  mob.  Mothers  and  children  daily  feast  their 
eyes  with  the  spectacle.  Even  delicate  females  roll  their 
eyes'over  them  without  a  shudder.  Our  sufferings  are  not 
felt ;  for  the  human  bosom  has  lost  its  feelings.  0  God 
of  my  fathers  !  bend  in  mercy  thine  eyes  on  my  bleeding 
country. ...  and  on  thy  weeping  kirk!  Shall  these  men 
spread  havoc  without  bounds  !  shall  our  blood  stream  in 
torrents !  shall  the  Stewarts  and  their  slaves  bind  these 
chains  on  the  neck  of  our  country  and  of  thy  kirk  for- 
ever ?" 
The  laird;  while  he  was  uttering  these  words^  had 


The  Proem.  in^'' 

tiirown  himself  on  liis  knees.  His  arms  were  stretched 
forward  and  upward.  His  long;  liair,  S^^^ay, — not  by  ajije, 
but  by  labours  and  sorrow,  descended  on  his  shoulders. 
His  eyes,  lighted  up  by  hope,  in  the  midst  of  desponden- 
cy, were  fixed  on  lieaven.  And  the  tears  streaming  over 
his  sunburned  cheeks,  fell,  in  large  drops  from  his  beard 
on  his  girdle. 

At  this  moment  his  brother  John  entered  with  looks 
whicii  betrayed  unusual  anxiety.  '^  My  brother,"  said 
he,  •'  you  niust  resume  these  weapons,  which  your  stu- 
dious habits  have  thrown  into  the  corner.  Praying 
must  give  way  to  fighting  now.  A  trooper  advances  at 
full  speed.  And  he  is  followed  by  a  dark  column.  We 
have  not  even  time  to  fly."  The  mind  of  the  laird,  like 
those  of  the  rest  of  the  wanderers,  always  brightened  up 
at  the  approach  of  danger,  ^^I  guessed  some  such  tidings 
from  that  tragedy  face  of  yours,"  said  he  :  "  Our  perils 
are  so  great  that  they  do  not  allow  us  time  to  vent  our 
complaints,"  added  he,  as  he  girded  on  his  sword,  and 
put  on  his  helmet.  "  Let  us  reconnoitre."  What  do  I 
see?  But  one  trooper?  And  that  mo  ley  cloud  is  a  rab- 
ble— not  a  troop.  That  trooj)er  is  not  of  Clavers'  band* 
Nor  does  he  belong  to  Douglas  :  nor  to  Inglis — nor  to 
Strachan's  dragoons.  He  waves  a  small  flag  — I  can  dis- 
cover the  scarlet  and  blue  colour  of  the  covenanter's  flag. 
Ha  !  welcome  you,  John  Howie  of  Lochgoin  ....  But 
what  news  ?  .  .  .  .  Lives  our  country?  Lives  "  the  good 
old  cause  ?"  "  Glorious  news  !"  exclaimed  Howie, 
"  Scotland  forever  !  Siie  is  free.  The  tyrant  James  has 
abdicated.  The  Stewarts  are  banished  by  an  indignant 
nation.  Orange  triumphs.  Our  wounds  are  binding  up. 
Hnzza !  Scotland  and  king  William  and  the  covenant 
forever." 

The  laird  made  no  reply.  He  laid  his  steel  cap  on  the 
ground;  and  threw  himself  on  his  knees.  He  uttered  a 
brief  prayer- — of  which  this  was  the  close.  "  My  bleed- 
ing country,  and  thy  wailing  kirk,  and  my  brethren  in  the 

furnace  have  come  in  remembrance  before  thee For 

ever  lauded  be  thy  name."  "  Hasten  to  the  meeting  at 
Lesmehago.  Our  friends,  behind  me  you  see,  have  al- 
ready set  out,"  said  Howie.  Atid  he  set  off  with  enthu- 
siastic ardour  to  spread  the  news. 


28  The  Vroenu 

"These  news,"  said  the  laiid,  after  a  long  pause,  while 
his  eyes  followed  the  courser  over  the  pi  (ins  of  Aven : 
^*  these  news  are  to  me  as  life  from  the  dead  :  Our  martial 
toils  have  not  heen  unprofitable.  Nor  has  our  blood  been 
shed  in  vain.  »V  e  have  at  last  roused  our  sleeping  coun- 
try. We  liave  saved  lier.  We  have  gained  our  civil  and 
religious  liberties.  I  feel  a  fresh  vigour  poured  into  my 
nerves.     I  feel  already  the  full  glow  of  liberty.     I  feel 

that  1  am  a  free  man and  no  tyrant's  slave. — The 

parliament  and  the  assembly  will,  1  trust,  set  all  things 
right  again.  My  forfeiture  sliall  be  restored.  And  my 
wife  and  babes  shall  surround  me  in  i\\v  domestic  circle. 
And  brother  John,  what  is  no  small  allair,  ...  I  shall  now 
have  a  respite far  from  the  horrid  «!in  of  war — quiet- 
ly to  finish  that  v/ork,  over  which  1  iiave  literall,>  trim- 
med the  midnight  lamp ;  with  my  sword  and  musketooii 
lying  before  me.  Gaun  Witherspoon,''  said  the  laird  in  a 
higher  tone,  ^*  call  my  moss  Iieaded  ostler,  and  let  us 
have  our  horses.  1  have  a  mind  to  meet  my  old  friends 
at  Lesmeliago.  And,  then,  when  serious  business  is  dis- 
patched, we  can  take  Bothvvell  field  on  our  return.  It 
will  yield  me  at  least  a  melancholy  pleasure  to  visit  the 
spot  where  we  fought,  I  trust,  our  last  battle  against  the 
enemies  of  our  country — and  of  (he  good  old  cause." 

Serious  matters  of  church  and  state  having  been  dis- 
cussed at  the  public  meeting,  the  brothers  found  them- 
selves, on  tlie  fourth  day,  on  tlio  battle  ground  of  Both- 
well. 

"  On  that  moor,"  said  the  laird,  after  a  long  silence — 
and  without  being  conscious  of  it,  he  had,  by  a  kind  of 
instinct  natural  enough  to  a  soldier,  drawn  his  sword,  and 
was  pointing  with  it — "  On  that  moor  the  enemy  first  form- 
ed under  Monmouth.  There  on  the  right,  Clavers  led  on 
the  life  guards,  breathing  fury,  and  resolute  to  wipe  off 
the  disgrace  of  the  afl[*air  of  Drumclog.  Dalzell  formed 
his  men  on  that  knoll.  Lord  Livingstone  led  his  van  of 
the  foemen.  We  had  taken  care  to  have  Both  well  Bridge 
strongly  secured  by  a  barricade.  And  our  little  battery 
of  cannon  was  planted  on  that  spot  below  us,  in  order  to 
sweep  the  bridge.  And  we  did  rake  it.  The  foemen's 
blood  streamed  there.  Again  and  again,  the  troops  of 
the  tyrant  marched  on  :  and  our  cannou  aunibilated  their 


T1ie  Proem.  29 

columns.  Sir  Kohert  Hamilton  was  oiu'  commander  in 
chief.  Tiie  gallant  general  Hackstone  stood  on  that  spot 
with  his  brave  men.  Along  the  river,  and  above  the 
bridge,  Burley's  foot,  and  capt.  Nesbit's  dragoons  were 
stationed.  For  one  hour  we  kept  tiie  enemy  in  check. 
They  were  defeated  in  every  attempt  to  cross  the  Clyde. 
Livingstone  sent  another  strong  column  to  storm  the 
bridge.  1  shall  never  forget  the  effect  of  one  fire  from  our 
battery,  where  my  men  stood.  We  saw  the  line  of  the  foe 
advance  in  all  the  military  glory  of  brave  and  beautiful 
men.  The  horses  pranced — the  armour  gleamed.  In  one 
moment  nothing  was  seen  but  a  shocking  mass  of  mortal- 
ity. Human  limbs,  and  the  bodies  and  limbs  of  horses, 
were  mingled  in  one  huge  heap ;  or  blown  to  a  great  dis- 
tance. Another  column  attempted  to  cross  above  the 
bridge.  Some  threw  themselves  into  the  current.  One 
well  directed  fire  from  Burley's  troops  threw  them  into 
disorder,  and  drove  them  back.  Meantime,  while  we 
were  thus  warmly  engaged,  Hamilton  was  labouring  to 
bring  down  the  different  divisions  of  our  main  body  into 
action.  But  in  vain  he  called  on  col.  Cleland's  troop — 
in  vain  he  ordei-ed  Henderson's  to  fall  in — in  vain  he 
called  ojj  col.  Fleming's.  Hackstone  fiew  from  troop  to 
troop.  All  was  confusion.  In  vain  he  besought,  he  en- 
treated, he  threatened.  Your  disputes,  and  fiery  mis- 
guided zeal,  my  brother,  contracted  a  deep  and  deadly 
guilt  that  day.  The  whig  turned  his  .arms,  in  fierce  hate, 
that  day  against  his  own  vitals.  Our  chaplains  Cargil, 
and  King,  and  Kid,  and  Douglas,  interposed  again  and 
again.  Cargil  mounted  the  pulpit;  he  preached  peace; 
he  called  aloud  for  mutual  forbearance.  "  Behold  the  ban- 
ners of  the  enemy,''  cried  he ;  "  hear  ye  not  the  fire  of  the 
foe,  and  of  our  own  brethren  ?  Our  brothers  and  fathers 
are  falling  beneath  their  sword.  Hasten  to  their  aid.  See 
the  flag  of  the  covenant.  See  the  motto  in  letters  of  gold. 
"  Christ's  crown  and  covenant."  Hear  the  voice  of  your 
weeping  country.  Hear  the  wailings  of  the  bleeding  kirk. 
Banish  discord ;  and  let  us,  as  a  band  of  brothers,  pre- 
sent a  bold  front  to  the  foemen.  Follow  me,  all  y^  who 
love  their  country  and  the  covenant.  I  go  to  die  in  the 
fore  front  of  the  battle."  All  the  ministers  and  officers 
followed  him,  amidst  a  flourish  of  trumpets:  but  the  great 


so  The  Proem. 

body  remained  to  listen  to  the  !iaran;;ues  of  the  fac- 
tious. We  sent  again  and  again  for  amrauniiion.  My 
men  were  at  the  last  round.  Treachery,  or  a  fatal  er- 
ror, had  sent  a  barrel  of  raisins  instead  of  powder.  My 
lieart  sunk  within  me,  while  1  beheld  the  despair  on  the 
faces  of  ray  brave  fellows,  as  1  struck  out  the  head  of  the 
vessel.  Hackstone  called  his  officers  to  him.  We  threw 
ourselves  around  him.  *»  What  must  be  done  .?'^  said  he 
in  an  agony  of  despair.  "  Conquer,  or  die !"  we  said  as 
if  with  one  voice  :  '^  we  have  our  swords  yet.  Lead  back 
the  men,  then,  to  their  places,  and  let  the  ensigns  bear 
dov/n  tiie  white  and  scarlet  colours.  Our  God  and  our 
country  be  the  word.*'  Hackstone  rushed  forward.  VVe 
ran  to  our  respective  corps — we  cheered  our  men,  but  they 
were  languid  and  dispirited.  Their  ammunition  was 
nearly  expended,  and  they  seemed  anxious  to  husband 
what  remained.  They  fought  only  with  their  carbines. 
The  cannons  could  no  more  be  loaded.  The  enemy  soon 
perceived  this.  We  saw  a  troop  of  horse  approach  the 
bridge.  It  was  that  of  the  life-guards.  I  recognised  the 
plume  of  Clavers.  They  approach^Ml  in  rapid  march.  A 
solid  column  of  infantry  followed.  I  sent  a  request  to 
capt.  Nesbit  to  join  his  troop  to  mine.  He  was  in  an  in- 
stant with  us.  We  charged  the  lifeguards.  Our  swords 
rung  on  their  steel  caps.  Many  of  ray  brave  lads  fell  on 
all  sides  of  me.  But  we  hewed  down  the  foe.  They 
began  to  reel.  The  whole  column  was  kept  stationary  on 
the  bridge.  Clavers'  dreadfjil  voice  was  heard,  more  like 
the  yell  of  a  savage,  than  the  commanding  voice  of  a  sol- 
dier. He  pushed  forward  his  men ;  and  again  we  hewed 
tliera  down.  A  third  mass  was  pushed  up.  Our  exhaust- 
ed dragoons  fled.  Unsupported,  I  found  myself  by  the 
brave  Nesbit  and  Paton,  and  Hackstone.  We  looked  for 
a  moment's  space  in  silence  on  each  other.  We  galloped 
in  front  of  our  retreating  men.  We  rallied  them.  We 
pointed  to  the  general  almost  alone.  We  pointed  to  the 
white  and  to  the  scarlot  colours  floating  near  him.  We 
cried  "  God  and  our  country y  They  faced  about.  We 
charged  Cdavers  once  more.  "  Torfoot,"  cried  Nesbit, 
f^  I  dare  you  to  the  fore  front  of  the  battle."  We  rushed 
up  at  full  gallop.  Our  men  seeing  this,  followed  also  at 
full  speed.     We  broke  the  enemy's  line,  bearing  down 


The  Proem.  31 

those  files  which  ^ye  encountered.  We  cut  our  way 
through  their  ranks.  But  they  had  now  leni:;thened  their 
front.  Superior  numbers  drove  us  in.  They  had  gained 
the  entire  possession  of  the  bridge.  Livingstone  and  Dai- 
zell  were  actually  taking  us  on  the  flank.  A  band  had  got 
between  us  and  Burley's  infantry.  "  My  friends/'  said 
Hackstone  to  his  officers,  <'  we  are  the  last  on  the  field. 
We  can  do  no  more.  We  must  retreat.  Let  us  attempt,  at 
least,  to  bring  aid  to  the  deluded  men  behind  us.  They 
have  brought  ruin  on  themselves  and  on  us.  Not  Mon- 
mouth, but  our  divisions  have  scattered  us." 

At  this  moment  one  of  the  life-guards  aimed  a  blow  at 
Hackstone.  My  sword  received  it ;  and  a  stroke  from 
Nesbit  laid  the  foeman's  hand  and  sword  in  the  dust.  He 
fainted,  and  tumbled  from  his  saddle.  We  reined  our 
horses,  and  galloped  to  our  main  body.  But  what  a 
scene  presented  itself  here  !  These  misguided  men  had 
their  eyes  now  fully  opened  on  their  fatal  errors.  The 
enemy  were  bringing  up  their  whole  force  against 
them.  I  was  not  long  a  near  spectator  of  it :  for  a  ball 
grazed  my  courser.  He  plunged  and  reared  ;  then  shot 
off  like  an  arrow.  Several  of  our  officers  drew  to  the  same 
place.  On  a  knoll  we  faced  about.  The  battle  raged 
below  us.  We  beheld  our  commander  doing  every 
thing  that  a  brave  soldier  could  do  with  factious  men, 
against  an  overpowering  foe.  Burley  and  his  troops  were 
in  close  conflict  with  Clavers'  dragoons.  We  saw  him 
dismount  three  troopers  with  his  own  hand.  He  could 
not  turn  the  tide  of  battle ;  but  he  was  covering  the  re- 
treat of  these  misguided  men.  Before  we  could  rejoin 
him,  a  party  threw  themselves  in  our  way.  We  formed, 
and  received  them.  Kennoway,  one  of  Clavers'  officers, 
led  them  on.  "  Would  to  God  that  this  were  Grahamo 
himself,"  some  of  my  comrades  ejaculated  aloud.  ^'  He 
falls  to  my  share,"  said  I,  "  whoever  the  officer  be."  I 
advanced ;  he  met  me.  I  parried  several  thrusts.  He 
received  a  cut  on  the  left  arm  ;  and  the  sword  by  the  same 
stroke,  shore  off  one  of  his  horse's  ears ;  it  plunged  and 
reared.  We  closed  again.  I  received  a  severe  stroke  on 
the  left  shoulder.  My  blow  fell  on  his  sword  arm.  He 
reined  his  horse  around,  retreated  a  few  paces,  then  re- 
turaed  at  full  gallop.    My  courser  reared  instinctively  as 


S2  The  Proem. 

his  appioaclsed.  1  received  liis  stroke  on  tlie  back  of  my 
ferrani,  and  by  a  back  stroke  I  gave  him  a  deep  cut  on 
the  cheek  ;  and  before  he  could  recover  a  position  of  de- 
fence^i  my  sword  fell,  with  a  terrible  blow,  on  his  steel 
cap.  Stunned  by  the  blow,  he  bent  himself  forward,  and 
grasping  the  mane,  be  tumbled  from  bis  saddle;  and  his 
steed  galloped  over  the  field.  1  did  not  repeat  the  blow. 
His  left  band  presented  his  sword;  his  right  arm  was  dis- 
abled :  his  life  was  given  to  him.  My  companions  having 
disposed  of  their  antagonists  (and  some  of  them  had  two 
a-piece)  we  paused  to  see  the  fate  of  Mie  battle.  Dalzell 
and  Livingstone  were  riding  over  the  field  like  furies, 
cutting  down  all  in  their  way.  Monmouth  was  galloping 
from  rank  to  rank,  and  calling  on  his  men  to  give  quar- 
ters. Clavers,  to  wipe  oli'tbc  disgrace  of  Drumclog,  was 
committing  fearful  havoc.  '^  Can  we  not  find  Clavers,'' 
said  Halhead.  "No/'  said  capt.  Paton,  "tbe  gallant 
colonel  takes  care  to  bave  a  solid  guard  of  his  rogues 
about  him.  I  have  sought  him  over  the  field,  but  I  found 
him,  as  1  now  perceive  him,  with  a  mass  of  his  guards 
about  him."  At  this  instant  we  saw  our  general,  at  some 
distance,  disentangling  himself  from  the  men  who  had 
tumbled  over  him  in  the  mele.  His  face,  and  hands,  and 
clothes  were  covered  with  gore.  He  bad  been  dismounted, 
and  was  fighting  on  foot ;  we  rushed  to  the  spot,  and 
cheered  him :  our  party  drove  back  the  scattered  bands  of 
Dalzell.  "  My  friends,"  said  sir  Robert,  as  we  mounted 
him  on  a  stray  liorse,  '*  the  day  is  lost !  but  you,  Paton^ 
you,  Brownlee  of  Torfoot,  and  you,  Halhead,  let  not  that 
flag  fall  into  the  hands  of  these  incarnate  devils.  We 
have  lost  the  battle  ;  but,  by  the  grace  of  God,  neither 
Dalzell  nor  Clavers  shall  say  that  he  took  our  colours. 
My  ensign  has  done  his  duty.  He  is  down.  This  sword 
has  saved  it  twice — I  leave  it  to  your  care ;  you  see  its 
perilous  situation."  He  pointed  with  his  sword  to  the 
spot,  we  collected  some  of  our  scattered  troops,  and  flew 
to  the  place.  The  standard  bearer  was  down,  but  he  was 
still  fearlessly  grasping  the  flag-staff;  while  it  was  borne 
upright  by  the  mass  of  men  who  had  thrown  themselves, 
in  fierce  contest,  around  it.  Its  well-known  blue  and  scar- 
let colours,  and  its  motto,  "  Chrisfs  croivn  and  covenant,^^ 
in  brilliant  gold  letters;  inspired  us  with  a  sacred  enthu- 


Tlie  Proem,  30 

siasm.  We  gave  a  loud  clieer  to  t!ie  wounded  ensip;n,  and 
rushed  into  the  combat.  Tlie  redemption  of  that  ilai;  cost 
the  foe  many  a  £;allant  man.  They  fell  beneath  our  broad 
svvordsj  and  with  horrible  execrations  dying  on  their  lips, 
they  gave  up  their  souls  to  their  Judge. 

Here  I  met  in  front  that  ferocious  dragoon  of  Clavers, 
named  Tam  Halliday,  who  had  more  than  once,  in  his 
raids,  plundered  my  halls ;  and  had  snatched  the  bread 
from  my  weeping  babes.  He  had  just  seized  the  white 
staffof  the  flag,  but  his  tremendous  oath  of  exultation  (we 
of  the  covenant  never  swear)  had  scarcely  passed  its 
polluted  thresliold,  when  this  andro-ferrara  fell  on  the 
guard  of  his  sleel,  and  shivered  it  to  pieces.  "  Kei  reant 
loon !"  said  I,  "  thou  shalt  this  day  remember  thy  evil 
deeds."  Ai^otherblow  on  his  helmet  laid  him  at  his  huge 
length,  and  made  him  bite  the  dust.  In  the  mele  tbat 
followed,  1  lost  sight  of  him.  We  fought  like  lions, 
but  with  the  hearts  of  Chrisstians.  While  my  i;ailant 
companions  stemmed  the  tide  of  battle,  the  standard,  rent 
to  tatters,  fell  across  my  breast.  1  tore  it  from  the  staff, 
and  wrapt  it  round  my  body.  We  cut  our  way  tlirougli 
the  enemy,  and  carried  our  general  off  the  field. 

Having  gained  a  small  knoll,  we  beheld  once  more  the 
dreadful  spectacle  below.  Thick  vl>lumes  of  smoke  and 
dust  rolled  in  a  lazy  cloud  over  the  dark  bands  mingled 
in  deadly  fray.  It  was  no  longer  a  battle,  but  a  massacre. 
In  the  struggle  of  my  feelings,  I  turned  ray  eyes  on  the 
general  and  Paton ;  I  saw  in  the  face  of  the  latter  an  in- 
describable conflict  of  passions.  His  long  and  shaggy 
eyebrows  were  drawn  over  his  eyes.  His  hand  grasped 
his  sword.  "  1  cannot  yet  leave  the  field,"  said  the  un- 
daunted Paton.  '^  With  the  general's  permission,  I  shall 
try  to  save  some  of  our  wretched  men,  beset  by  these  hell 
hounds.  Who  will  go?  At  Kilsyth  i  saw  service.  When 
deserted  by  my  troop,  I  cut  my  way  through  Montrose's 
men,  and  reached  the  spot  where  colonels  Hacket  and 
Strachan  were.  We  left  the  field  together.  Fifteen  dra- 
goons attacked  us,  we  cut  down  thirteen,  and  two  fled; 
thirteen  next  assailed  us,  we  left  ten  on  the  field,  and 
three  fled;  eleven  highlanders  next  met  us;  we  paused^ 
and  cheered  each  other.  "  Now,  Johnny,"  cried  Hacket 
tg  me,  <<  put  forth  your  mettle,  else  we  are  gone."   Nine 

7 


34  The  Proem. 

others  we  sent  after  their  comrades,  and  twb  fled.*  NoWf 
who  will  join  this  raid?"  ^^  I  will  be  your  leader/'  said 
sir  Robert,  as  we  fell  into  the  ranks.  We  marched  on 
the  enemy's  flank.  "  Yonder  is  Clavers,"  said  Paton^ 
while  he  directed  his  courser  on  him.  The  bloody  man 
>vas  at  that  moment,  nearly  alone,  hacking  to  pieces  some 
poor  fellows  already  on  their  knees,  and  disarmed,  and 
imploring  him  by  the  common  feelings  of  humanity  to 
spare  their  lives.  He  had  just  finished  his  usual  oatli 
against  their  ''^feelings  of  humanity,''^  when  Paton  pre- 
sented himself.  He  instantly  let  go  his  prey,  and  slunk 
back  into  the  midst  of  his  troopers.  Having  formed  them, 
he  advanced.  We  formed,  and  made  a  furious  onset.  At 
our  first  charge  his  troop  reeled.  Clavers  was  dismounted  ; 
but  at  that  moment  Dalzell  assailed  us  on  the  flank  and 
rear.  Our  men  fell  around  us  like  grass  before  the  mower. 
The  bugleman  sounded  a  retreat.  Once  more  in  the  mele 
I  fell  in  with  the  general  and  Paton.  We  w  ere  covered 
with  wounds.  We  directed  our  flight  in  the  rear  of  our 
broken  troops.  By  tire  direction  of  the  general,  I  had  un- 
furled the  standard.  It  was  borne  ofif  the  field,  flying  at 
the  sword's  point — but  that  honor  cost  mc  much.  I  was 
assailed  by  three  fierce  dragoons,  five  followed  close  in 
their  rear ;  I  called  to  Paton ;  in  a  moment  he  was  by  my 
side — I  threw  the  standard  to  the  general,  and  we  rushed 
on  the  foe.  They  fell  beneath  our  swords;  but  my  faithful 
steed,  which  had  carried  me  through  all  my  dangers,  was 
mortally  wounded — he  fell.  I  was  thrown  in  among  the 
fallen  enemy ;  I  fainted.  I  opened  my  eyes  on  misery — 
I  found  myself  in  the  presence  of  Monmouth,  a  prisoner, 
>vith  other  wretched  creatures,  waiting,  in  awful  suspense, 
their  ultimate  destiny."         ***** 

"  Bloody  Bothwell  field  !  on  thee  fell  a  host  of  my  brave 
companions.  On  thee  twelve  hundred  prisoners  were 
stript,  and  laid  on  the  cold  ground ;  till  driven,  like 
sheep,  to  the  shambles  of  the  council.  On  thee  flourished 
the  bloody  conspiracy  against  the  liberty  of  my  country, 

*  This  chivalrous  defence  is  recorded,  I  find,  in  the  life  of  capt.  Paton,- 
in  the  "  Scots'  Worthies,"  Edinb.  edit,  of  1812.  This  celebrated  officer 
was  trained  up  to  warfare  in  the  army  of  Chai'les  Gustavus,  king  of  Swe- 
den. This  is  a  specimen  of  those  heroic  whigs,  who  brought  about  the 
revolution  of  A.'  D.  1688. 


The  Proem.  35 

aiul  against  our  holy  religion.     Bloody  Botliwell  field  ! 
mine  eyes  shall  never  hehold  thee  more.'' 

The  laird  reined  his  steed,  and  they  set  ofi",  at  full 
gallop,  on  the  way  which  led  them  to  Strathaven.  "  Had 
the  deil  been  a  hint  him,  and  Jamie  Clavers  afore  him,  he 
could  nae  hae  gaen  faster,'^  uncle  John  used  to  say  ;  nor 
(his  mind  was  so  full  of  his  sul)ject)  did  he  stop  till  he 
reached  the  plains  where  the  crystal  Geel  mixes  its  tor- 
rent with  the  dark  Aven. 

The  sun  was  pouring  the  last  beams  of  day  over  the 
heights  of  Drumclog.  and  far  below,  in  the  peaceful  and 
lovely  dale  of  Aven,  the  smoke  of  the  evening  fires  was 
rising  iu  lazy  volumes  over  the  mansion  and  the  cottages. 
*'  Now  lauded  be  his  name,"  said  the  laird,  as  he  stopt 
short,  and  felt  the  visions  of  Bothwell  and  Ayresmorc 
passing  away  from  before  his  eyes  ;  "  the  storm  of  war  is 
blown  over ;  sweet  peace  has  spread  her  wings  over  our 
fields  and  in  our  halls — nor  shall  the  joyful  day  be  soon 
forgotten ;  a  sheep^s  head  and  a  inch  haggis,  our  national 
dishes,  shall  annually  smoke  on  ray  board,  on  the  day 
that  commemorates  the  return  of  peace — and  welcome^ 
and  a  God's  speed  to  every  guest  who  hails  the  day ! 

Tradition  says  that  a  sheep's  head  and  haggis,  with 
the  oth«r  solidities  of  a  feast,  were  served  up  to  all  the 
surviving  companions  of  his  toils  ;  and  that  he  dismissed 
them  with  presents,  answering  to  the  poverty  of  his 
means ;  then,  indeed,  but  small,  in  consequence  of  the 
raids  of  Clavers: — that  after  he  had  comforted  his  family, 
and  put  things  in  their  usual  train,  as  in  peaceful  times, 
he  called  his  attendant,  Gawen  Witherspoon,  "put  my 
chamber  in  order,"  said  he,  "  and  set  forth  my  writing 
utensils.  Bring  out  my  three-legged  table — Jamie  Gra- 
hame  has  left  me  no  better  for  a  writing  desk — it  is 
bnicMe  gear,  to  be  sure,  but  it  will  serve  my  purpose. 
Then,  Gawen,  you  may  bring  out  my  doublet  and  hose 
from  my  peace  wardrobe ;  a  polemic  should  not  have 
weapons  of  war  about  him,  nor  any  thing  that  might  re- 
mind him  of  violence.  1  shall  exchange  my  buff  coat  for 
the  velvets,  the  steel  cap  shall  give  place  to  the  velvet 
cap,  and  these  huge  jackboots,  which  have  weathered 
all  storms,  shall  be  displaced  for  the  broad-toed  slippers, 
and  the  gray  goose  quill  shall  take  the  place  of  this 


3.a  The  Proem. 

andro-fenaia.    It  is  enough — now  hang  up  my  weapous, 
aficr  ;voii  .^luill  have  dilii^ciitly  scoured  theoj ;  my  sword 
and   nuii^quctoon  are,  by  God's  grace,  never  to  be  again 
put  in  requisition  ;  but,  Gawen,  tiiey  must  not  rust.    Let 
them  tell  my  children,  and  my  children's  children,  what 
was  done  and  suflered  by  ihn'iv  forebears^  to  restore  the 
rei^n  of  law  and  of  liberty.  And,  Gawen,  you  may  hand 
rxit,  out  these  manuscripts.     Those  are  the  three  indices. 
That — U't  me  see — is  my  jiagan  index.     The  outlines  of 
the  riiitonic  philosophy  are  painfully  chalked  out  here. 
That    is    my  doctrinal,   and   that   my  Jiistorical   index. 
These  loose  slieets  are  the  papers  of  the  two   Barclays — 
the  col.  and  his  son,  Robert.     Tiie  col.  was  a  gallant  sol- 
dier, and  an  honest  man ;  but  the  son  is,   witii  all  his 
araiableness,  an  iucorrigil)le  sophist.     The  callan,  I  do 
thinlc,  Gawen,  has  been  polluted  by  papistrie.    1  am  sure 
of  it.    The  gallant  col.  would  not  believe  me  ;  but  the  lad 
was  in  the  talous  of  his  monk  uncle  of  Paris.  That  heavy 
book — it's  heavy  in   mair  senses  than  ane,  Gawen — ay, 
that  is  his  '  tipology  for  the  True   Christian  Divinity ;' 
<Puli-hu  !'  as  Clavers  used  to  interject,  when  out  of  pa- 
tience; the  lad,  though  fresh  from  a  monk's  cell,  abso- 
lutely defies  all  the  learning  and  divinity  of  Europe.  The 
col.   was  always  a  modest  man,  1  wish  I  could  say  the 
same  of  the  son.     Lay  these  loose  papers  on  the  buffet 
stool ;  they  are  precious  specimens  of  George  Fox.     He 
Nvas  an  extraordinary  head-piece,  that  same  George  Fox. 
Thcre^s  no  accounting  for  things — we   are  scarcely  free 
agents  in  these  matters.     Had  even  brother  John  told  me 
that  I  was  born  to  be  a  polemic,  1  should  have  laughed 
him  to  scorn ;  1  was  led  into  this  quaker  controversy  by 
frequent,  but  the  most  perfect  good-natured  debates  with 
Sanders  Hamilton  in  the  caves,  and  in  the  Darn-houm  of 
Loudon   hill.     He  was  a  kind  of  outre,  muddy-headed 
child,  led  infinitely  more  by  a  dreamy  fancy  than  a  clear 
intellect ;  though  I  used  to  give  him  credit  that  he  was,  in 
one  respect,  like  Mr.  William  Penn.     In  speech  and 
writing  he  never  failed  in  having  the  last  word  ;  and  his 
vociferations  rung  on  our  ears  like  a  volley  from  the  life- 
guards.    This  Sanders  Hamilton  had  actually  the  honor 
of  setting  up  the  first  quaker  meetings  in  Scotland.     He 
set  them  up  at  my  very  lug,  in  my  neighbour  Drumboy's 


The  Proem,  37 

liouse.*  We  (I  always  include  my  associates,  the  gallant 
worthies  who  honoured  my  hall  in  the  killing  times)  have 
cleared  this  county  nearly  of  the  pest.  Why,  Gawen,  of 
their  once  large  meethigs,  there  are  now  no  remains  but 
the  melancholy  remnant  of  mortality — their  graves ! 
though  I  knew  not  of  one  who  died  for  his  religion. 
There,  for  instance,  at  Glassford,  are  nothing  but  the 
graves  of  the  fathers  ;  the  youth  have  been  converted. 
You  can  easily  know  tlieir  graves,  my  son,  [the  young 
laird  had  put  in  a  question  on  this  subject]  for  as  they 
differed  from  all  men  when  living,  so  they  seemed  deter- 
mined to  diifer  from  all  men  when  dead.  All  the  world, 
you  know,  place  the  head  respectfully  to  the  west ;  they 
inter  always  with  the  head  to  the  east.  But  Scotland,  as 
well  as  the  county  of  Lanark  and  of  Ayr,  must  be  purged 
of  tliem — that  is,  if  decent  treatment  can  do  it — so  let  m% 
proceed,  for 

Hxc  contentio  utilis  est  mortalbus.i 

as  Longinus  quotes  out  of  Hesiod.        *         *         * 

Gawen  shut  the  door,  with  a  low  bow,  and  leading 
away  the  children,  he  left  the  laird  to  his  lucubrations. 

*  *  *  *  This  venerable  man  lived  to  a  good  old 
age.  He  died  in  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of  the  First 
George.  When  he  felt  the  hour  of  his  dissolution  drawing 
nigh,  he  summoned  his  spouse  and  children  around  his 
couch,  and  delivered  solemn  instructions  and  admonitions 
to  each  individual,  lie  took  an  aflPectionate  leave  of  his 
spouse  ;  he  raised  her  hand  to  his  lip,  then  placed  it  in 
the  hand  of  the  young  laird,  while  he  whispered  forth 
these  words :  *^  Now  I  go  the  way  of  all  the  earth  ;  1 
leave  off  converse  with  all  temporal  things — I  have  fought 
a  good  fight — I  have  finished  ray  course — I  have  kept  the 
faith ;  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of 
righteousness."  He  paused  in  a  long  and  deep  silence— 
a  beam  of  joy  lighted  up  his  face ;  he  added  in  a  low 
whisper,  ^^  Now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace, 
for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation."  He  stretched 
himself  out  on  his  couch,  and  raising  his  quivering  hands 

*  This  corresponds  with  the  statemer.t  of  Sewel,  Hist,  of  the  Quaker^ 
vol.  i.  p.  in.    Edit,  of  A.  D.  1821. 


88  The  Proem. 

to  his  head,  he  closed  his  eyes  with  his  own  hauds,  and 
M^as  gathered  unto  his  fathers. 


I  have  not  translated  the  following  note  of  the  laird, 
as  I  have  his  other  pieces.  The  reader  may  easily  per- 
ceive the  reason. 

"  1  pretermit  quhat  niicht  bee  sayd  anent  the  inenny 
difficultys  quhilk  I  hae  met  wi,  in  coUectin  thae  materials, 
quhilk  ye  sail  tin  in  the  raackle  linen  frock,  containin  the 
perchments  and  other  instruments  o'  writin  belongin  to 
this  lairdship.  In  this  bludy  laun,  for  mony  a  lang  yeer, 
the  logic  o'  the  sword  hais  bin  mair  resourted  till,  than 
ony  o'  Aristotle's  argumentationes :  or,  weel  I  wait,  than 
ony  ither  o'  the  skulemen.  Coonsel  and  arguements  hae 
brocht  on  sair  dauds.  13aith  gentlemen,  an  simple  men 
harle,  in  upo  a'  occasions,  the  bludy  maximes  o'  papistrie. 
They  enlichten  and  convert  myndes  by  hard  knockes. 
And  they  hae  stuck  dourly  and  dreichly  tilPt.  The  best 
champion  aniang  us  haes  been  sairly  forefochen ;  not  by 
spritely  raisons,  but  by  blauds." 

****** 

^^  I  hae  had  muckle  tyme,  T  grant,  and  mony  gude  op^ 
portunities.  But,  oich  me  kintry  !  Scotland's  no  the  richt 
plaice  for  finishing  sic  works.  In  a  laun  whare  toleration 
is  gifted  free  to  ilka  ane,  the  deevers  seeks  wull  ay  put 
cot  their  horns,  like  snails  at  eese  on  their  moist  and  mossy 
braes,  fearlessly.  An'  they'll  beek  on  the  bonny  sinny 
knows.  And  they'll  streek  themselves  out,  a'  their  fu' 
lenthis  in  the  sheelins.  They  ken  nae  enemy.  They 
hae  nae  dreed  o'  violence.  They  fear  uocht  for  themsels. 
They  knaw  nae  weak  side  they  hae.  Their  hale  bonks 
are  rouled  out,  at  their  greusome  lenthis,  butt  dreed,  or 
fear,  into  the  licht.  To  get  mine  een  on  this  new  seek, 
amang  the  lave,  beeking  at  its  full  lenthis,  butt  fear  or 
dreed,  was  what  I  did  graitly  desiderate.  But  I  might 
not  see  it.  It  was  na  God's  gude  wull.  Althocht  1  was 
ains  richt  neer  it,  after  the  cooncel  bannished  me. 

^'  But  I  hae,  noo,  nae  doot  that  sum  o'  me  bairns,  or 
aiblius;  sum  o'  my  bairus'  bairns,  wull  migrate  to  that 


The  Proem.  S9 

laun  o'  free  toleration.  Twa  raisons  hae  suggested  the 
thocht — l*^.  Tlie  love  of  liberty,  whilk  I  inheerited  frae 
me  forbears  ;  an'  quhilk  I  hae  ay  lauboured,  butt  rusing 
ony  o'  my  ain  feckless  sarvices,  to  empreint  stedfastUke 
on  your  myndes,  that  will  urge  ye  to  seek  that  laun.  2®. 
Thae  grawin  colonies  wull,  sum  daie,  become  a  graite 
nation.  An'  they  sail  be  ane  asylum  to  the  oppressit  o' 
a'  nations." 

"  I  deposite,  thairfoir,  in  the  sayd  linen  frock,  all  and 
haill  o'  the  mateerials  collected.  Let  them  gae  doon  as 
ane  heir-loom  in  the  feemily ;  till  sum  ane  o'  me  bairnsi, 
sail,  under  God,  compleet  the  vvark  ;  out  o'  the  rich  ma- 
terials to  be  had  in  the  toon  of  that  singulair  and  graite 
mann,  Maister  William  Penn,  in  the  province  of  Penn- 
sylvania ;  and  in  the  province  of  Csesarea,  (New  Jersey) 
over  quhilk  Robert  Barclay,  the  sunne  of  my  maist  wor- 
thie  auld  frien'  col.  Barclay,  was  sum  tyme  governor  in 
chief.  There,  gif  the  bruit  be  treuth,  there  are  mony  o' 
iVeends  o'  the  genuine  auld  stamp."     *     *     *     * 

Torfoot,  July  19,  A.  D.  1718. 

In  me  chree  score  an'  eleventh  year. 

O  Lord  when  wilt  thoo  deleever ! 

Cum,  Lord  Jesus  1 


TO  THE  READER. 


The  polemic  is  often  viewed  with  distrust  and  jealousy. 
We  live  too  remote  from  the  impulse  of  a  Reformation  to 
feel  a  just  interest  in  theological  discussions.  In  this  age  of 
divisions,  we  have  ceased  to  wonder,  even  at  daring  inno- 
vations ;  and  Mammon  has  breathed  a  withering  blast  over 
us,  which  chills  the  spirit  of  investigation.  Each  sec- 
tary urges  the  clamorous  plea  for  charity  ;  and,  too  often, 
around  the  most  deformed  systems,  its  mantle  has  been 
thrown  by  the  hand  of  ignorance  and  religious  indifler- 
ence.  The  charity  which  "  rejoices  in  the  truth,*'  blooms 
not  in  its  wonted  loveliness.  It  has  been  degraded,  by  the 
crowd,  into  a  wild  and  hackneyed  thing,  whose  smiles 
are  bestowed,  promiscuously,  on  error  and  on  truth. 

Religious  inquiry,  and  even  controversy,  is  perfectly 
consistent  with  the  loveliest  exercise  of  charity.  It  may 
be  so  gracefully  conducted,  as  to  be  made  to  bear  along 
with  it  the  best  proofs  of  its  being  the  offspring  of  cha- 
rity. The  spirit  that  disgraced  the  polemic  of  ancient 
times  is  no  longer  countenanced.  The  religious  public 
will  soon  frown  into  oblivion  the  volume  which  offers  vio- 
lence to  the  grace  of  brotherly  love.  It  demands  that 
politeness  and  courtesy  should  preside  over  religious 
debates.  Polemics  have  been  taught  to  distinguish  be- 
tween the  principles  and  the  man  :  to  recognise  the  man 
as  a  brother,  while  they  frankly  expose  his  heresy.  They 
have  arrived  at  a  higher  distinction  :  tliey  have  set  out  on 
this  ground — that  the  salvation  of  the  soul  is,  with  all  its 
importance,  something  subordinate  to  the  glory  of  God ; 
and  that,  therefore,  in  choosing  a  system  of  religion, 
there  is  a  higher  motive  to  be  kept  in  view  than  the  at- 
tainment of  salvation.  To  glorify  the  Deity  is  the  first; 
to  reach  heaven  in  safety  is  the  second  motive  th^t  gives 
the  impulse.  Hence,  in  fixing  our  religions  system,  the 
question  is  not  "  Who  shall  arrive  in  heaven  ?''    On  that 

S 


31  Maxims. 

all  christians  are  agreed.  "  All  who  love  our  Lord  Je- 
sus Christ  shall  be  saved  infallibly."  But  the  object  of 
inquiry  is  this :  In  journeying  to  heaven,  by  what  reli- 
gious system  shall  we  promote,  in  the  highest  degree^ 
the  glory  of  Almighty  God  ?  Undoubtedly  by  that  in 
which  the  perfect  purity  of  Christ's  doctrines,  and  the  en- 
tire number  of  his  ordinances,  put  forth  their  energies 
over  the  human  mind. 

The  man  who  does  rest  on  Jesus  Christ  as  the  only 
foundation,  but  who,  unhappily,  in  the  hour  of  tempta- 
tion, builds  on  it  inferior  materials — "  hay  or  stubble'' — 
shall,  indeed,  be  saved ;  but  he  shall  "  suffer  loss,"  in 
that  day  of  joy,  when  the  different  degrees  of  glory  shall 
be  assigned  to  each  by  the  Great  Judge  of  us  all.* 

It  is,  therefore,  charity  in  one  of  its  loveliest  movements, 
that  prompts  the  christian  to  raise  his  voice  and  to  expose 
to  his  fellow  men  the  dangers  and  the  losses  which  ne- 
cessarily arise  out  of  error. 


MAXIMS. 

The  following  Maxims  are  submitted  to  the  Society  o' 
Friends,  and  to  all  those  who  will  follow  me  through 
the  discussion  of  this  subject.  I  trust  that  the  reader  will 
yield  to  them  as  to  first  principles,  or  Axioms. 

PART    I. 

1.  That  is  not  charity  which  yields  up,  through  friend- 
ship or  courtesy,  doctrines  obviously  revealed ;  which 
pays  court  to  error ;  which  makes  error  and  truth  indif- 
ferent ;  which  separates  sound  sentiments  from  sound 
morals. 

2.  To  expose  the  defects  and  errors  of  a  system  does 
not,  surely,  imply  that  we  render  no  homage  to  the  vir- 
tues and  worth  of  its  authors  and  followers.  It  is  not  per- 
secution. The  conscience  of  man  can  not  be  justly  under 
any  human  restraint.  All  ought  to  have  an  unshackled 
toleration :  but  let  the  press  be  free  to  expose  errors  j 

*  See  1  Cor.  iii.  89,  6cc. 


Maxims.  Bp 

iliis  is  all  we  claim.  And  as  the  investigation  and  expo- 
sure of  errors  in  politics  never  lias  been  deemed  persecu- 
tion, why  should  it  be  deemed  so  in  religion?  To  teach 
and  convince  by  arguments,  a  man  of  his  errors,  can  no 
more  trench  on  his  rights  than  to  teach  and  convince  him 
of  the  truth. 

3.  To  form  an  estimate  of  the  truth  and  importance  of 
radical  doctrines,  from  the  amiable  characters  merely  of 
those  with  whom  one  associates,  and  whom  one  loves,  is 
surely  no  proof  of  a  sound  or  an  accomplished  miud.  It 
can  be  nothing  else  than  sheer  prejudice. 

4.  Human  opinions  cannot  be  the  standard  of  divine 
truth — much  less  opinions  formed  through  the  partialities 
of  friendship,  or  of  men  of  influence. 

5.  Amiable  manners  and  decent  morals  cannot  be  the 
test  of  orthodoxy,  or  the  standard  of  divine  truth.  The 
young  and  accomplished  moralist,  whom  Jesus  looked 
on  with  approbation  of  his  morals  so  far  as  they  went, 
did  yet  "  lack"  the  most  necessary  part  of  the  character 
of  the  good  man  and  of  a  sound  mind  ;  and  he  conlirmed 
the  proof  of  this  fatal  lack,  by  turning  his  back  on  the 
Lord  Jesus. 

The  morals  of  the  christian,  and  the  morals  of  the 
amiable  and  refined  man  may  appear,  to  the  superficial, 
and  to  the  patrons  of  morality  without  a  christian  prin- 
ciple, to  resemble  each  other,  and  even  to  be  the  same. 
In  the  judgment  of  the  church  they  are  radically  differ- 
ent. Those  are  always  founded  in  truth  and  in  faith  as 
their  basis,  and  are  warm  from  the  heart.  Tiiese  are  the 
mere  external  polish — the  creatures  of  circumstance. 
Those  are  the  fruits  which  a  vital  principle  of  grace  sends 
forth  into  light  in  all  their  richness  and  flavour.  These 
are  the  fortuitous  effects  of  a  mind  bland  and  polished, 
but  a  stranger  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
to  the  theory  and  experience  of  the  "  new  birth.'' 

6.  Sincerity  is  not  the  test  of  orthodoxy,  nor  the  stand- 
ard of  divine  truth.  The  ignorant  and  fatally  erroneous 
are  as  capable  of  sincerity  as  the  enlightened  philosopher 
and  the  intelligent  christian.  We  have  no  reason  to  ques- 
tion the  sincerity  of  the  Unitarian,  of  the  Jew,  of  the 
Moslem  :  yet  who  would  say  that  they  are  all  right^  or 
orthodox,  because  they  are  sincere? 


30  Maxims. 

Lastly.  To  pvonounce  on  the  truth  of  religious  opi- 
nions, from  their  influence  merely  on  the  face  of  society, 
has  involved  men  in  a  series  of  errors.  It  is  a  presump- 
tnoiis  agitating  of  the  question,  whether  the  doctrines  of 
J^evelation  have  an  intrinsic  worth  and  importance. 
It  is  a  deciding,  hy  the  puny  intellect  of  man,  that  they 
have  only  an  extrinsic  worth.  It  is  a  keeping  out  of  view, 
(luring  tlie  whole  investigation,  the  hearing  which  these 
doctrines  have  on  the  truth  and  perfections  of  Deity.  It 
is  a  declaring  that  the  orthodoxy  of  opinions,  and  sys- 
tems, is  to  he  determined  from  their  heneflting  society — 
ov  at  least  from  their  not  injuring  it; — while  the  lie  may 
he  given  hy  these  systems  to  the  sacred  truth  of  Deity, 
and  the  holiest  of  his  perfections  may  be  dishonoured. 

PART    II. 

1.  God  only  has  a  right  to  dictate  to  man's  conscience. 

2.  The  law  which  God  hag  dictated  is  the  perfect  and 
only  standard  of  doctrine,  through  the  influence  of  the 
Tloly  Gliost.  And  such  is  the  clearness,  and  abundant 
fulness  of  the  Holy  Word,  that  every  essential  doctrine, 
and  the  true  meaning  of  every  passage,  may,  by  the  aids 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  be  determined  from  the  parallel  pas- 
sages. The  shallow  and  the  indolent  alone  will  exclaim, 
•"'The  heretic,  as  the  church  calls  him,  may  be  as  correct 
as  she  :  he  has  a  conscience  and  a  mind  to  investigate  as 
well  as  she."  This  is  the  stale  objection  of  the  old  Ca- 
tholics against  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  it  involves  two 
errors : — it  is  predicated  on  the  supposition  that  the  hu- 
man mind  is  tlie  arbiter  of  the  truth  ;  and  that  the  scrip- 
tures are  so  obscure  that  we  cannot  determine  from  thera 
any  definite  truth — that  error,  as  easily  as  truth,  may  be 
sustained  from  the  pure  word  of  God. 

3.  Almighty  God  has  set  the  seal  of  his  authority  on 
every  item  of  doctrine,  as  well  as  every  item  of  law  in  his 
sacred  word.  He  has  dictated  to  our  intellectual  powers 
as  well  as  to  our  moral  powers.*  He  enjoins  on  us  the 
duty  of  believing  every  truth  which  he  has  uttered,  as 
much  as  of  obeying  every  law  which  he  has  sanctioned. 
He  has  as  truly  said,  *lll  these  doctrines  of  my  icovd  are 

*  Stapfei'i  Theol.  Polem.  vol.iv.  sect.l.  p.  335. 


Maxims.  37 

true,  and  thou  sJialt  believe  them  with  all  thy  soul — as  lie 
has  said,  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  and  him  only 
shalt  thou  serve. 

4.  Mail  is  bound  to  yield  to  God  the  entire  services  of 
Lis  intellectual  and  moral  powers.  To  assert  that  a  man 
may  mean  well,  and  be  immoral — ov  that  he  may  be  a 
good  moralist,  and  yet  revolt  against  God  in  the  moral 
exercise  of  his  heart — or  that  he  may  please  by  his  good 
work,  and  yet  deny  with  his  lips,  and  disbelieve  in  his 
heart  those  doctrines  which  his  Creator  has  dictated  to 
him,  and  enjoined  on  him  to  believe,  are  surely  the  most 
glaring  contradictions. 

Hence  5.  In  a  moral  agent,  who  owes  the  entire  alle- 
giance of  his  soul  and  conduct,  the  best  deportment  and 
morals  cannot  compensate  for  the  want  of  a  right  faith, 
nor  atone  for  the  rebellion  of  the  heart  against  its  God. 

Hence  6.  A  man  may  be  a  rebel  against  his  Creator  as 
much  by  his  sincere,  yet  erroneous  belief,  as  by  his  immo- 
ral conduct.  The  first  is  as  much  opposed  to  God's  truth 
as  the  last  is  opposed  to  his  justice.  By  the  first  he  ^^ives 
the  lie  to  God's  truth,  and  persists  in  ^'  making  God  a 
liar."  By  the  last  he  offers  violence  to  the  laws  of  his 
Creator.  By  the  first  the  corrupt  mind  puts  forth  its  ma- 
lice with  as  much  malignity  as  by  the  last.  The  only 
difference  is,  that  the  first  is  not  so  evident  before  the  eyes 
of  men.  But  that  does  not  touch  the  question  of  their  !  e- 
ing  equally  "open  and  naked  before  the  eyes  of  Him 
with  whom  we  have  to  do." 

PART    III. 

In  the  christian  system  there  are  certain  doctrines  in- 
terwoven with  its  very  existence.  All  christians  believe, 
them  :  "  they  are  the  sayings  of  the  faithful."  And  while 
they  respect  the  entire  liberty  of  conscience,  all  chris- 
tians turn  aside  from  those  who  deny  them,  and  refuse 
them  communion.    The  following  are  of  this  class: 

1.  There  is  one  God.  He  is  in  his  essence  undivided 
and  indivisible.  He  possesses  every  perfection.  The 
manner  of  his  existence  is  as  necessary  as  his  existence 
itself ;  or,  he  is  as  necessarily  what  he  is,  as  he  necessa- 
rily is.  "Hear,  O Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord." 
"  And  God  said,  let  us  make  man  in  our  image."  "  God 


38  Maxims. 

sent  his  Son.'^  "  This  is  ray  beloved  Son'' — and  as  these 
words  were  uttered,  the  "  Holy  Ghost  descended  on 
him/^  Thus  in  the  essence  there  is  a  plurality.  Sometimes 
these  are  even  more  distinctly  specified.  "  There  are 
three  that  bear  record  in  heaven — the  Father,  the  Word^ 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  these  three  are  one.'^  The  Fa- 
ther is  very  God;  the  Word  is  very  God;  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  very  God.  They  are  three  in  one  sense,  and 
one  in  another  sense. 

2.  Man's  total  depravity.     Rom.  v.  12.  &c. 

3.  The  necessity  of  regeneration.     John  iii.  3. 

4.  The  reality  and  perfection  of  the  atonement  by  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

5.  Justification  before  God,  through  faith  in  Christ. 
Gal.  ii.  16. 

6.  Justification  before  the  Church  and  the  world,  by 
good  works.     James,  ii.  24. 

7.  Sanctification  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

8.  The  resurrection  of  the  body  from  the  grave.  John 
V.  28,  29. 

9.  ^^ Eternal  life,"  and  "eternal  punishment."  Matth. 
XXV.  46. 

*^*  See  the  Confessions,  Articles,  and  Creeds  of  the 
different  sections  of  the  christian  church — American,  En- 
glish, Scottish,  Dutch,  French,  Irish,  &c. 

PART  IV. 

A  polemic  has  not  to  enter  the  lists  with  the  private 
opinions  of  the  individuals  of  a  sect,  nor  with  the  loose 
and  vague  ideas  that  float  in  society.  The  true  opinions 
of  every  society  lie  before  the  public  in  their  approved 
writings.  These  are  fairly  open  to  discussion  ;  their  pub- 
lication of  them  has  in  it  the  nature  of  an  open  challenge 
— and  who  can  blame  the  man  that  takes  up  the  gaunt- 
let? They  are  the  assailants — I  am  the  defendant. 


AN 

HISTORICAL  VIEW 

OF  THE 

OPINIONS,  AND  OF  THE  OUIGIN,  RISE,  PROGRESS,   &C. 


COMMONLY  CALLED  QUAKERS. 


<*  Mihl  Galba,  Otho  Yitellius  necbeneficio  nee  injuria  cogniti." 


Tacittjs, 


**  We  are  just  considered  as  a  good  sort  of  people  in  the  main  ;  who  refuse 
"  to  fight,  and  to  swear,  and  to  pay  tythes  ;  and  while  the  improved  manners 
•*  of  the  age  allow  that  for  these,  and  other  singularities,  we  ought  not  to  be 
"  molested,  the  pubhc,  in  general,  cares  little  further  about  us,  and  seldom 
"inquiresa  reason  of  the  hope  in  us."....Quak.  of  A.  D.  1811.  Mosh.  vol.  iv. 
p.  294.  New  York  edit,  of  1821. 


AN  HISTORICAL  DISSERTATION 


ORIGIN,  RISE,  &c. 


SOCIETY  OF  FBIEJVDS. 


'♦  We  do  not  wish  to  meddle  with  those  called  Mystics,  or  to  adopt  many  oi" 
theii"  expressions." — Religious  Society  called  Quakers,  1799. 


§  1.  All  systems  of  christian  doctrine,  which  lay  claims  to 
consistency,  have  certain  first  principles,  on  which,  as  their  ba- 
sis, the  whole  superstructure  rests. 

The  first  principles  of  the  religious  system  of  the  Friends  are 
reducible  to  two  classes.  The  first  respects  the  character  of 
Deity ;  the  second,  the  nature  of  the  human  soul.  On  their  opi- 
nions respecting  these  two  subjects,  rests  the  peculiarity  of  all 
their  religious  sentiments — complicated  and  mysterious  as  they 
may  seem  to  be  at  first  view. 

I.  On  the  first  of  these  articles  there  is,  unquestionably,  some- 
thing like  a  very  serious  defect  in  their  system.  According  to 
their  approved  writers,  the  Deity  does,  indeed,  possess  the  per- 
fection of  justice.  But  it  is  not  that  justice  which  docs  make  an 
atonement  by  the  real  sufferings  and  real  death  of  an  outward 
mediator,  indispensably  necessary.  The  Deity,  they  teach,  can 
pardon  sin  without  such  shedding  of  blood.*  They    admit  that 

t*  Perni,  vol.  ii.  pp.  15, 529,  530,  folio  edition  of  his  works,  A.  D.  1726. 

0 


42  An  Historical  Dissertation. 

"  there  are  three  that  bear  record  in  heaven,  the  Father,  the 
Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost."  But  from  the  variety,  and  the  obscu- 
rity of  their  opinions,  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  whether  they  fol- 
low the  bare  theory  of  Plato's  triad;  or  embrace  the  modifica- 
tions of  this  by  Sabellius,  or  those  of  Socinus.  But  their  trinity 
is  not  the  trinity  of  the  holy  scriptures.  They  admit  of  no  dis- 
tinction between  the  sacred  persons  of  the  most  Holy  Trinitj^ 
They  deny,  in  the  most  decided  terms,  that  there  are  three  dis- 
tinct divine  persons,  equal  in  power  and  glory,  united  in  the  one 
Godhead.  The  word  and  the  spirit  are,  in  their  system,  the 
same  thing;  and  these  are,  moreover,  the  Father— diud  they  reject 
the  word  person  from  their  system  as  altogether  improper.* 

II.  Of  the  soul.  On  this  subject  they  discover  more  clearly 
those  opinions  which  distinguish  them  from  every  other  sect  of 
christians.  "  The  soul,"  say  they,  '•  came  out  of  God,  and  is  of 
him,  and  is  part  of  him.'''']  The  soul  of  man,  simply  as  such,  is  not 
the  very  essence  of  God.  But  as  God  '•  breathed  into  man  the 
breath  of  life,  and  he  became  a  living  soul,"  it  is  of  God,  it  is  of 
his  being ;  and  that  which  comes  out  of  God  is  a  part  of  God.t 
And  to  illustrate  his  meaning,  Penn  quotes  a  Jewish  expositor  on 
Genesis  ii.  17,  and  embodies  his  idea  into  their  system.  "God 
inspired  man  with  something  of  his  own  substance.  He  bestov/ed 
something  of  his  otcn  divinity  on  him.  He  inspired  him  with  the 
Holy  Ghost." 

The  soul,  which  is  "  a  part  of  God,"  is,  by  Christ,  brought  up 
again  into  God,  whence  it  came,  whereby  they  came  to  be  onesoul,\\ 
Hence,  at  death,  the  soul  and  spirit  of  man  is  centred  into  its 
own  being  with  God ;  and  this  form  of  person  returns  whence  it 
is  taken— into  the  essence  and  being  of  God.§ 

The  soul  being  of  this  divine  origin,  possesses  a  measure  of 
the  spirit  of  God.     "  This  divine   principle  is  a  divine  light  in 


♦  See  a  more  full  inquiiy  into  this  subject  in  chap.  7,  part  ii,  following. 

f  Fox's  Great  Mystery,  pp.  29,  91,  273,  &c.  ancient  edit.  Penn,  vol.  ii. 
p.  521.     See  also  the  "Snake  in  the  Grass,"  sec.  2. 

X  Penn,  vol.  ii.  p  521. 

I)  Fox's  Great  Myst.  pp.  91,  100,  229,  ancient  edit.— and  their  rabbi,  S. 
Fisher,  %vho  treated  Doctor  Owen  as  an  illiterate  rustic,  has  exp'  essed 
the  same  opinion.  See  his  "  Velata  quxdam  revelata,"  p.  13,  and  Penn's 
Defence  of  it,  in  vol.  ii.  p.  296. 

§  Burroughs's  Dying  Words — Seeprcf.  to  his  works,  fol.  1672,  and  ^x 
ut  supra. 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  43 

man.    This  internal  guide  every  man  brings  into  the  world  with 
him.  Man  is  fallen  from  his  primitive  dignity  and  excellence.  In 
his  body  there  is  an  evil  seed  or  principle.     This  opposes  with 
violence,  and  presses  down  the  holy  seed  within.  But  if  man,  by 
proper  means,  does  cultivate  the  holy  seed,  it  vrill  spring  up :  it 
illumines  all  within :  it  is  the  Christ  in  us  who  speaks  in  whis- 
pers: it  teaches  us  all  that  is  necessary  to  salvation:  it  purifies 
and  elevates  the  soul  to  divinity.  These  means  are  not  labour, 
nor  study.    Learning  is  useless  and  even  hurtful.     The  means 
are  solitude,  silence,  contemplation,  and  introversion.     This  last 
includes  the  suspension  of  carnal  reason^  and  of  wisdom,  and  of 
judgment :  and  thence  the  bending  of  the  whole  soul  inward  to 
the  dictates  of  the  holy  light.     During  this  mental  labour  the 
holy  seed  struggles  with  the  evil  seed :  its  success  is,  for  a  time, 
doubtful ;  at  last  it  rises,  in  the  power  of  God,  over  all  opposition. 
This  they  call  the  sufferings  of  Christ—for  Christ  in  them  offers 
up  a  sacrifice  to  God  for  them.*    Its  success  in  rising  over  the 
corrupt  nature  is  Christ's  resurrection.     By  binding  down  the 
evil  seed,  or  by  hurling  it  out  of  the  soul,  it  justifies  us  before 
God.  In  the  same  manner  it  sanctifies  and  elevates  man  to  sin- 
less perfection.     This  victory  is,  however,  not  easily  obtained. 
The  opposition  created  by  the  evil  seed  is  often  most  violent. 
Hence  the  soul  is  filled  with  horror,  and  the  body  quakes  and 
trembles  as  the  leaf  before  the  wind.     Finally,  the  human  body, 
composed  of  the  gross  materials  of  flesh  and  blood,  is  the  prison 
of  the  soul  in  this  world.  But  it  is  dissolved  at  death,  and  crum- 
bles into  dust.  The  soul  then  receives  a  subtle  and  luciform  and 
etherial  body,  in  which  it  shall  exist  forever :  and  hence  there 
is  no  resurrection  of  the  same  body  from  the  grave.! 

§  2.  Notwithstanding  the  assertions  of  the  Friends  to  the  con- 
trary, it  has  been  constantly  maintained  by  the  learned,  that  the 
peculiar  tenets  of  the  Society  are  Platonic,  or  mystic.  It  is  but 
justice  to  the  Society  to  set  the  proofs  before  them,  that  they 
may  judge  if  it  be  fairly  made  out.| 


♦  Smith's  Catcch.and  Penn.  ii.  410.  Bard.  Quak.  Confut.  sec.  4. 

t  Penn,  vol.ii.  298.  544,  896,  &c.  8cc, 

t  And  no  Friend  can  be  displeased  with  the  tracing  of  their  tenets  to 


44  *ln  Histoncal  Dissertation, 

I.  The  Platonic  system  recognised  the  one  supreme  God; 
and  it  is  probable  that  their  inferior  deities  held  the  same  rank 
and  place  in  their  system  as  the  angels  in  their  different  orders 
hold  in  the  system  of  divine  truth.  The  accusation  has  been 
brought  against  Plato  that  his  doctrine  stript  the  Deity  of  some 
of  his  divine  attributes.  This  charge,  however,  has  not  been 
made  out.  The  sentiment  of  Plato  respecting  the  invincible  ma- 
lignity of  matter,  which,  according  to  him,  the  Supreme  Deity 
could  not  conquer,  did  certainly  derogate  from  the  glory  of  hig 
omnipotence :  but  he  certainly  did  not  remove  that  perfection 
from  his  idea  of  the  divine  nature ;  and  did  we  even  admit  the 
full  extent  of  this  error,  we  should  find  that  Plato's  injury  to  that 
natural  perfection  of  Deity  is  not  to  be  placed  on  a  level  with 
that  outrage  which  the  leaders  of  the  Society  have  offered  to  one 
of  the  moral  perfections.  Their  sentiments  on  the  atonement  de- 
rogate from  the  glory  of  his  justice.  They  deny  that  the  claims 
of  justice  against  the  sinner,  are  so  righteous  that  they  never 
can,  without  a  full  satisfaction,  be  set  aside.  They  do  deny  vin- 
dictive justice.  They  reduce  its  terrific  nature  to  the  level  of  hu- 
man equity.  They  shut  their  eyes  against  the  breadth  and 
length,  the  depth  and  height  of  that  guilt  that  aims  its  malignant 
force  against  infinite  holiness  and  purity.  They  keep  out  of  view 
those  infinite  obligations  which  man  has  violated ;  and  by  the 
violation  of  which  he  has  contracted  guilt  of  infinite  malignity : 
and  with  a  maudlin  sentimentalism  they  aver,  that  if -man  can, 
without  criminality,  pardon  an  oftence  without  a  satisfaction,  so 
may  Divine  Justice  pardon ;  and  so  has  Divine  Justice  pardoned 
human  guilt  without  a  satisfaction  !* 

With  these  exceptions  the  sentiments  of  the  Society  har- 
monize with  those  of  Plato  on  this  article.  The  unity  of  their 
sentiments  is  more  striking  on  that  of  the  triad.  Plato  held  that 
there  were  three  principles,  or  hypostases.  The  Father  is  the 
first;  he  is  the  one,t  or  God  himself,  strictly  speaking.  The  se- 
cond is  the  Logos,  or  Word,  who  made  the  world.    The  third  is 


this  source,  after  the  encomium  passed  on  the  Mystics  by  the  Society  in 
A.  D.  1811.  See  the  Vindication  of  the  Quakers,  Mosh.  vol.  iv.  p.  29", 
edit  of  1821. 

*  Whitehead's  Div.  of  Christ,  p.  62,  63.  Penn,  ii.  13,  529,  &c. 

tT«  'EN. 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  45 

the  Spirit,  or  Soul  of  the  World.  The  first  is  the  father  of  the 
second ;  and  the  second  produced  the  third.*  The  Word  and 
Spirit  were  considered  by  them  as  inferior  to  the  Father.  He 
never  understood,  he  never  taught  the  unity  of  essence  in  three 
persons.  It  is  a  melancholy  fact  that  the  same  idea  was  adopted 
and  persisted  in  by  Penn.  If  there  be  any  difference,  the  So- 
ciety embrace  this  doctrine  of  Plato,  as  modified  by  Sabellius, 
or  by  Socinus.t 

II.  The  ancient  maxim  of  the  philosophers,  "  De  nihilo  nihil,'^ 
— Noihing  can  come  from  nothing ; — was  never  controverted  by 
them :  it  was  with  them  an  axiom :  it  needed  no  proof.  Even 
Plato  had  not  a  scruple  on  the  subject.  Human  souls,  were,  there- 
fore, not  made  out  of  nothing.  Plato,  in  his  Timaeus,  represents 
the  great  first  cause  in  conjunction  with  the  inferior  deities, 
forming  the  inhabitants  of  the  spheres.  The  immortal  soul, 
which  they  called  the  divine  seed,l  the  seat  of  knowledge  and 
wisdom,  was  an  emanation  of  God,  and  was  as  pure  as  his  own 
cssence.§  He  gave  it  in  charge  to  the  inferior  gods  to  give  man 
a  spirit,  or  mortal  soul ;  the  seat  of  the  passions  and  the  desires. 
Heraclitus  held  that  the  Deity  was  a  methodical  fire,  pervading 
the  universe :  and  that  souls  of  men  were  parts  taken  out  of  the 
universe  ;||  and  in  whatever  manner  expressed,  this  was  one  of 
the  grand  tenets  of  Platonisra  ;  that  the  divine  essence  or  nature 
was  diffused  through  every  soul,  so  as  to  make  them  constituent 
parts  of  itself.H 

Plato  taught  that  the  Great  One  created  all  human  souls  at 
once.  He  put  them  into  light  and  subtile  bodies.  Besides  this 
they  have  also  luciform  and  etherial  bodies.**  These  souls  were 
placed,  at  first,  in  the  spheres  that  roll  in  space.  In  that  state  of 
pre-existence  each  soul  chose  its  guardian  demon,  who  was 
to  be  in  future  its  companion  and  guidc.J]:  These  souls  while  ex- 


♦  Plat.  Opera.  1011, 1012,  and  his  5  and  6  Lett,  ad  Dionys.  ad  Hermiam. 
Cudw.  Intel.  Syst.  book  i.  chap.  4.  and  Grot.  De  Veritate  Lib.  4.  sec.  12. 

f  Penn's  Sandy  Found,  and  vol.  ii.  ad  initium. 

if.  Virg.  iEn.  vi.  ver.  731. 

§  Plat.  Tim.  and  Ogilvy's  Theol.  Plat.  p.  105. 

II  Cudw.  Intel.  Syst.  i.  51.  4to.  mihi. 

1  "  Animas  que  nostras  partem  esse  cceli."  Plin.  Lib.  ii.cap.  26. 

**  Proclus  in  Timseum  and  Plato  in  his  Epinomis.  Cudw.  Int.  Syst.  p. 
788.  Virg.  JEn.  vi.  v.  702. 

:^:j:  Plato  in  Timxo.  &  Phxd.  and  Virg.  JEn.  vi.  ver.  730. 


46  ^n  Historical  Dissertation. 

isting  in  their  airy  vehicle  were  actuated  by  opposing  desires ; 
and  when  the  Supreme  One  conducts  the  inferior  gods  to  the 
highest  celestial  elevation,  he  is  followed,  with  ease,  by  beings 
like  himself.  Not  so  with  others.  By  means  of  conflicting  desires, 
their  wings,  while  mounting  to  the  source  of  felicity,  became  im- 
paired and  broken.  They  fall  from  their  superior  regions  and 
enter  into  gross  bodies  on  the  earth.t  This  is  the  Platonic  fall  of 
man. 

Into  these  bodies  the  souls  enter  with  their  luciform  bodies,  or 
vehicles.  This  light  is  shut  up  in  these  dark  terrestrial  bodies 
like  a  light  m  a  dark  lantern.|  This  internal  light  was  called  by 
some  of  them  a  spirit  :||  Seneca  makes  it  a  sacred  spirit.  "  Sacer 
inter  nos  sedet  spiritus."  Lucan  confers  divine  honours  upon  it. 
"  Est  deus  in  nobis."§  And  Ovid  shuts  up  this  god  in  the  human 
breast.lF  Hence  the  demon  of  Socrates,  which  directed  his  mind 
in  the  search  of  truth;  which  prescribed  the  measures  that  he 
pursued ;  which  dictated  what  he  ought  to  say ;  or  sealed  his 
lips  in  dutiful  silence ;  which  lifted  the  curtain  of  futurity  and 
blessed  its  votary  with  visions  and  predictions.**  And,  hence,  the 
attendant  god  of  Plotinus,  to  whom  "  the  divine  eye  of  his  soul 
was  continually  elevated."tt 

In  its  present  debased  state  the  soul  is  urged  on  to  re-ascend 
to  its  original.  The  "  deity  within'''  utters  soft  voices ;  but  these 
cannot  be  heard  until  a  dream,  or  a  rapture,  or  the  slumbers  of 
silence  and  the  retirement  of  the  soul  into  itself  shall  still  the  cla- 
mours of  reason  and  of  sense.  Nothing  is  more  hostile  to  this  di- 
vine enthusiasm  than  mortal  wisdom  and  bodily  desires.J|  To 
detach  the  soul  from  these  was  the  grand  art  taught  by  this  phi- 
losophy. Hence  Socrates  and  Plato  prescribed  rules  for  purging 
the  rational  soul,  and  clarifying  the  luciform  vehicle  in  which 

j  Plat.  Opcr.  1223,  and  Ogil.  Theol.  Plat.  p.  160.  161. 

X  Suidas,  Isidore,  Hierocles  used  this  language.  Cudw  Intel.  Syst.  4to. 
p.  790.  The  ancient  Quakers  were,  by  the  wags  of  that  age,  called  "  dark, 
lantern  men."  The  "  light  within"  was  the  beginning,  the  middle,  and  the 
end  of  their  extemporaneous  effusions. 

II  Pletho  in  Oracul,  Chald.  Cud.  In.  Sys.  i.  791,  4to. 

§  Phars.  lib.  9.  v.  568. 

H  Metaph.  ii.  Fab.  10.  Et  de  arte  Amandi,  lib.  iii.  ver.  549. 

••  Xenoph.  Memor.  Socrat.  &  Pluta.  de  genio  Socr.  and  W.  Penn,  ii. 
583. 

ft  Taylor's  Plat.  Philos.  ii.  p.  238. 

%%  Plutar.  De  Defect.  Orac. — Spencer  on  Vulg.  Prophecies,  p.  32.— 


»ln  Hhtorical  Dissertation.  47 

the  soul  was  enveloped.*  For,  being  attenuated  to  a  certain  de- 
gree, it  becomes  "  light  and  wingy ;"  it  mounts  aloft  as  the  thin 
gas  to  the  summit  of  perfection.  Hence  their  cathartic  virtues— 
hence  their  corporal  afflictions.  By  these  means  they  chained 
down  the  carnal  mind,  that  the  light  within  might  spring  up. 
Hence  this  mode  of  address:  "  Let  us  hasten  to  the  light 
whence  the  soul  came :  look  within :  the  fountain  of  good  is 
within  :  you  will  be  wise  if  you  behold  yourselves  in  the  Deity ; 
in  that  light  which  alone  is  capable  of  teaching  you.  If  you  look 
into  that  which  is  without,  you  will  only  do  the  works  of  dark- 
ness.! And  this  specimen  of  a  Platonic  address  will  show  with 
what  scrupulous  fidelity  the  disciples  adhere  to  their  masters : 
'■  O  Friends  !  turn  in,  turn  in :  where  is  the  poison,  there  is  the 
cure :  there  you  want  Christ,  and  there  you  must  find  him."! 

The  soul,  being  purified,  according  to  the  Platonists,  is  eleva- 
ted to  a  union  with  the  Supreme  God.  They  are  surrounded  by 
divine  splendours :  rays  of  celestial  light  are  extended  to  their 
eyes :  they  speak,  they  write,  from  the  inspirations  of  Deity.§ 
At  death  the  body  is  dissolved  for  ever— and  the  soul,  bursting 
from  that  vile  prison,  returns,  in  its  luciform  body,  to  God,  out 
of  whom  it  came,  and  is  absorbed  into  him.||  The  resurrection  of 
the  body  was  a  subject  of  derision  to  these  sophists.  "  To  be 
again  placed  in  the  same  body,"  said  Plotinus,  "  would  be  no 
better  than  a  second  sleep."  And  Celaus  reproached  this  doc- 
trine, the  hope  of  all  good  men,  as  "  erKa*.^xut  Ixt/j"— "  the  hope 
of  worms."1[ 

§  3.  These  doctrines  have  been  handed  down  from  a  remote 
antiquity.  Plato  has  not  the  honour  of  discovering  them  :  he  was 
not  even  the  first  whose  genius  illustrated  them :  he  was  in- 


Jamblicus  De  Myst.  Egypt,  sec.  3.  cap.  7.  Lampe  Theol.  Dissert.  De 
Theopneust,  sec.  37. 

•  Bar.  Apology,  orig.  Lat.  edit.  On  the  light,  called  it  "  Vehiculum 
Dei."  Engl,  copy,  p.  152.  ed.  Phil — Compared  with  Taylor's  Plat.  Phi- 
losophy, vol.  ii.p.  236.  4to.  Lond.  cd. 

t  Sybil.  Orac.  ii.  79.  Ogil.  Theol.  Plat.  188.  and  Plat.  Dial,  of  Soc.  and 
Alcib. 

X  Penn  in  his  pref.  to  Fox's  Jour.  p.  57.  mihi — Comp.  Bar.  Apol.  and 
prop.  586. sec.  13. 

§  Taylor's  works  of  Plat.  ii.  237,  and  238,  4to.  A.  D.  1792. 

II  Taylor's  works  of  Plat.  ii.  p.  268. 

i  orig.  contra  Cels.  lib.  v.  240. 


48  An  Historical  Bissertation. 

<3ebted  for  them  to  the  philosophy  of  Egypt,  and  especially  to 
the  school  of  Pythagoras.  This  philosopher  was  a  native  of  Si- 
don  :  it  was  in  his  native  city  that  Pythagoras  met  with  some  of 
the  disciples  of  Moschus,  or  Mochus,  who  is  supposed,  by  some 
of  the  learned,  to  have  been  theMosesof  the  Jews:*  who,  at  any 
rate,  was  a  Phenician ;  and  had,  undoubtedly,  borrowed  from 
the  Mosaic  writings,  or  the  traditions  of  the  Jews.  Moschus 
taught  that,  besides  matter,  there  are  immortal  souls,  and  a  deity 
distinct  from  the  corporal  world.t  This  fair  system  suffered 
grievously  from  the  hands  into  which  it  fell :  the  atheistic  school 
of  Democritus  and  Epicurus  formed  their  system  from  his  doc- 
trine of  ^the  corporal  world,  and  denied  the  existence  of  God 
and  of  spirits.  Pythagoras,  and  especially  Plato  and  Aristotle, 
filled  with  prejudices  against  this  philosophism,  went  into  an  op- 
posite extreme.  They  rejected  his  opinions  on  the  corporal 
world,  and  confined  their  system  to  the  spiritual  part.  Giving 
loose  reins  to  their  glowing  imaginations,  they  formed  a  sublime 
theology,  in  which  the  character  of  their  deity,  and  the  pre-exist- 
cnce  and  [immortality  of  souls  form  the  only  conspicuous  part. 
But  matter  is  invincibly  malignant :  the  body  is  a  vile  prison :  the 
only  object  to  be  kept  in  view  with  it  is  to  get  quit  of  it,  as  the 
prisoner  longs  and  labours  after  emancipation  from  bondage. 
Plato  was  the  most  laborious  and  successful  of  the  Socratic 
school  in  propagating  these  doctrines.  He  died  in  the  year  be- 
fore Christ  three  hundred  and  forty-eight.j 

B,  C.  270,  to  B.  C.  246 The  philosophy  of  Plato  was  widely 

spread  through  Asia  by  the  patronage  of  the  kings  of  Egypt  and 
of  Syria.  Ptolemy,  surnamed  Lagus,  caused  a  library  to  be 
erected  at  Alexandria,  and  he  collected  into  it  every  book 
which  he  could  procure.  His  son  continued  his  patronage,  and 
enlarged  its  stores.||  The  Syrian  monarchy  also  formed  an  ex- 
tensive library .§  The  writings  of  Plato  were  too  valuable,  and 
too  well  known  not  to  occupy  a  conspicuous  place  in  them.  The 
schools  of  Egypt  and  of  Syria  became  the  resort  of  men  of 


*  Cudw  Intel.  Syst.  chap.i.  sec  10. 

t  Cudworth,  book  i.  ch.  i.  sec.  41.  p.  50. 

X  Lemp.  Class.  Diet. 

II  Justin.  17.  c.  2,  &c.  Lemp.  Classical  Diet. 

§  Le  Clerc's  Life  of  Euseb.  p.  69. 


•in  Historical  Dissertation.  4ft 

learning  and  taste.  From  thence  the  sentiments  of  Plato  were 
spread  widely  abroad.  Thus,  two  hundred  years  before  Christ, 
Asia  was  filled  with  the  disciples  of  Plato.* 

The  Platonic  philosophy  underwent  various  transformations 
before  it  reached  the  humble  pages  of  the  founder  of  the  society. 
Fathers  and  bishops,  and  heretics,  united  their  efforts  to  chris- 
tianize the  sentiments  of  Plato.  The  result,  as  will  appear  in  our 
progress,  was,  that  instead  of  bringing  the  sophism  of  that  sage 
into  a  christian  form,  they  were  invariably  drawn  off  from  the 
pure  fountain  of  truth,  to  the  polluted  streams  of  Egypt  and 
Greece. 

Splendid  as  the  language  of  Plato  is,  (and  its  beauties  have 
charmed  every  scholar,)  it  must  be  admitted  that  his  ideas  are 
extremely  obscure ;  and  many  of  them  altogether  unintelligible.! 
The  proofs  of  this  appear  strikingly,  even  on  the  pages  of  Tay- 
lor, who  has  given  us,  perhaps,  the  purest  system  of  Platonism, 
and  certainly  the  least  obscure,  from  the  hand  of  a  disciple.J 
But  the  commentators  on  that  philosophy  brought  with  them 
much  knowledge  from  the  Jewish  and  Christian  doctors.  They 
have  illumined  his  pages,  and  brought  his  opinions  to  a  systema- 
tic form.  Toward  the  close  of  the  second  century,  the  sect  of 
the  Eclectics  appeared.  They  adopted  in  general  the  doctrines 
of  Plato,  respecting  the  Deity,  and  the  human  soul :  but  they 
added  to  his  opinions  the  rich  gleanings  from  other  systems. 
This  sect  arose  in  Alexandria,  at  that  time  the  seat  of  the  sci- 
ences. It  spread  rapidly  through  the  Roman  empire ;  bearing 
down  before  it  all  other  sects.  Even  christian  fathers  embraced 
its  opinions.  At  the  head  of  these  was  Clemens  Alexandrinus. 
This  christian  father  was  in  the  habit  of  teaching  his  pupils  a 
system  of  Platonic  philosophy,  before  he  led  them  to  the  know- 
ledge of  the  holy  scriptures  !§ 

Near  the  close  of  the  second  century  flourished  Ammonius 


*  Le  Clerc'sLife  of  Euseb.  p.  69. 

f  Longinus  speaking  ofhim  and  his  commentator  Plotinus,  says  :  "  The 
greatest  part  of  the  matters  of  which  thej^  treat,  is  incomprehensible." 
Madame  Dacier's  Plato,  vol.  i.  p.  162,  Lend.  Edit.  1720. 

X  See  his  works  of  Plato,  2d  vol.  quarto,  London,  A.  D.  1792.  "  Heu 
prisca  jacet  pietas,''  -vas  the  motto  of  Taylor  as  hegave  up  the  Lord  Je- 
sus Christ  for  Plato,  p.  32. 

§  Le  Clerc's  life  of  Clem.  Al. 

10 


So  Jin  Historical  JJissprtation. 

Saccas.*  He  affected  a  change  in  the  Platonic  system  :  which  pro- 
duced the  most  extensive  and  serious  consequences.  He  held, 
that  the  great  principles  of  religious  truth,  were  to  be  found 
equally  in  the  opinions  of  all  sects;  th;n  they  difi'-red  only  in 
the  manner  of  expressing  themselves;  that  all  religions,  both 
Gentile  and  Christian,  are  to  be  explnined  by  the  principles  of 
the  universal  philosophy ;  that  this  philosophy  was  taught  by 
Hermes  in  Egypt;  that  it  waspreser\ed  in  the  purest  manner  by 
Plato ;  that,  therefore,  all  religions,  in  order  to  their  being  re- 
stored to  their  original  purity,  must  be  reduced  to  this  stand- 
ard, which  was  called  the  philosophy  of  the  East ;  that  in  the  ac- 
compHshment  of  this  reformation,  the  historical  fables  of  the 
heathen  gods  must  be  turned  into  allegory ;  and  modelled  after 
Plato ;  and  that,  by  the  same  process,  the  mysteries  of  the  holy 
scriptures  are  to  be  reconciled  to  the  theology  of  Plato. 

The  rules  of  his  moral  discipline.  Avere  conformed  to  these  te- 
nets. They  embraced  all  the  catholic  virtues  and  forms  pre- 
scribed by  the  Platonic  doctors,  for  purifying  the  soul,  and  se- 
parating it,  as  much  as  possible,  from  the  trammels  of  the  bodily 
sensations,  that  it  might  be  elevated  to  its  original  source.  Sac- 
cas had  been  educated  in  the  faith  of  the  gospel.t 

In  expounding  his  novel  doctrines,  his  manner  was  pleas- 
ing and  insinuating.  He  made  a  free  use  of  the  language  of  the 
holy  scriptures,  and  his  followers  profiting  by  his  example,  seem- 
ed to  clothe  Plato  entirely  in  the  garb  of  a  christian,  and  out- 
stripped even  the  fathers  of  the  church  in  the  profusion  of  scrip- 
ture questions.  This  suited  the  taste  of  the  age.  Plato  was  not 
sacrificed;  and  the  badge  of  Christianity  was  at  least  put  on. 
Saccas  met  the  prejudices  of  his  audiences,  as  the  Jesuits  did 
those  of  the  Chinese.  He  met  them  more  than  half  way  in  their 
superstition.  Pie  did  not  ask  them  to  change  their  idols.  He 
asked  them  only  to  adopt  a  new  nomenclature.  He  brings  for- 
ward a  creature  of  his  brain.  The  body  is  weak.  The  name 
and  language  resembles  that  of  Christ.  The  multitude  shouted 
their  applause.  Their  opinions  were  eagerly  embraced.  The 
sect  spreads  its  doctrines  with  rapidity  into  all  quarters. 

*  Mosh.  i.  cent.  ii.  p.  2.ch.  1.  Or  according  to  others,  A.  D.232.  Lempr 
Bigr.  Diet. 
I  Milaer'sch.  hist,  vol,  i.  ch.  9,  cent.  2,  Mosh.  cent.  ii.  part  2,  ch.  1. 


tin  Historical  Dissertation.  51 

§  4.  This  philosophy  gave  birth  to  two  extraordinary  sects  in 
the  bosom  of  the  church.  The  mode  of  explaining  by  allegory, 
was  adopted  by  Clemens  Alexandrinns,  and  l)y  the  celebrated 
Origen.  The  last  was  passionately  devoted  to  this  philosophy. 
These  fathers  took  for  the  model  of  their  expositions,  the  rhap- 
sodies of  the  Eastern-philosophers,  who  made  godly  comments 
on  the  w  retched  fables  and  absurdities  of  their  ghostly  histories. 
Taught  by  these  sophists,  they  supposed  that  the  inspired  wri- 
ters had  concealed  their  true  meaning  under  difl'erent  forms  of 
speech.  The  plainest  doctrines,  and  even  historical  details  were 
found  out  to  be  nothing  more  than  allegories,  containing  in  their 
bowels  wonderful  mysteries.  They  set  themselves  with  much 
solemnity,  to  penetrate  those  figures ;  and  they  brought  to  view^, 
doctrines  which  no  mortal  had  before  pretended  to  discover 
there;  and  which  certainly  no  inspired  writer  ever  meant  to 
convey  by  these  statements.  To  pave  the  way  for  this  knight- 
errantry  in  divinity,  Origen  laid  down  this  dangerous  maxim, 
which  he  never  would  have  adopted,  had  he  been  able,  by  a  fair 
and  natural  course,  to  find  his  favourite  Plato  within  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  bible:  "Many  evils  lie  in  adhering  to  the  external 
letter,  or  carnal  part  of  the  scriptures.  Let  us  seek  after  the 
spirit  of  the  word,  which  is  hidden  and  mysterious.^'  "  The 
scriptures  are  of  little  use  to  those  who  understand  them  as  they 
are  written."*  It  is  from  this  we  trace  the  origin  of  that  scho- 
lastic theology  which  caused  so  much  distraction  in  the  church 
in  after  ages. 

The  other  sect  was  more  notorious :  it  was  that  of  the  mys- 
tics. They  perfected  the  works  begun  by  their  master.  By 
tJie  help  of  scripture  phrases  and  a  new  nomenclature,  Plato  was 
christianized.  His  conducting  demon  was  ingeniously  meta- 
morphosed ;  he  became  in  their  lips  the  spirit ;  from  the  confu- 
sion in  his  pages  respecting  the  luciform  body  or  vehicle  of  the 
soul,  and  the  demon,  arose  their  confounding  of  the  word  and  the 
spiiit.  These  in  process  of  time,  among  the  peculiarities  of  cer- 
tain heresies,  became  one  and  the  same.  The  '*  chy  splendour''^ 
of  Porphyryt  became,  in  their  system,  a  divine  illumination  by 
the  rising  up  of  the  light  within ;  this  re-union  of  the  soul  to  God 

*  Orig.  Strom,  lib.  10.  Mosh.  i.  cent.  3.  p.  2.  ch, .". 
f  Taylov'sPlatonicTheol.  ii.  p.  271. 


52  *in  Historical  Dissertation. 

in  the  fund  of  the  soul,  so  as  to  partake  of  the  essence  of  God, 
became  in  their  hands  the  union  to  Christ  within,  whence  they 
obtain  emancipation  from  sin,  and  the  lofty  honours  of  perfec- 
tion.* His  struggles  of  the  soul  in  its  descent  to  its  original,  in 
obedience  to  the  whispers  of  the  god  within  it,  became,  with 
these  christians,  the  sufferings  of  Christ  in  their  flesh.  Some- 
times his  demon  sunk  beneath  unruly  passions  or  the  force  of 
sin ;  this  became,  with  them,  the  crucifying  of  Christ  in  them, 
and  a  falling  finally  away  from  grace.!  He  made  the  body  to  be 
only  a  prison  of  the  soul.  Death  sets  us  free,  never  again  to  be 
enthralled  by  a  union  to  it ;  hence  they  drew  the  inference  that 
there  is  not  a  resurrection  of  tlie  same  body  which  is  laid  in  the 
grave. 

They  adopted  also  his  austere  discipline.  Acting  on  the  Pla- 
tonic maxim,  that  the  soul  is  an  emanation  from  God  and  is 
"  of  his  essence;''''  and  that  it  '"' comprehends  in  itself  the  elements  of 
all  truth,  human  and  divine  ,•"  they  rejected  all  the  aid  of  learning 
and  study,  and  indeed  of  every  external  means,  to  excite  the 
hidden  flanie  in  the  soul.  Nothing,  they  taught,  but  solitude  and 
the  stillness  of  repose,  can  effect  this ;  the  body  must  be  mortified ; 
reason  and  wisdom  must  be  checked  :  hence  the  origin  of  monks 
and  hermits.  In  a  short  time  the  deserts  and  the  dens  of  wild 
beasts  were  peopled  with  these  fanatics.  The  eastern  climate 
greatly  conduced  to  this ;  their  glowing  atmosphere  creates  the 
inactive  and  melancholy  habits  which  distinguish  the  languid 
minds  of  the  East.j 

Ammonius  Saccas  committed  nothing  to  writing;  but  in  the 
fourth  century,  his  mystic  doctrine  was  reduced  to  a  more  regu- 
lar system.  This  was  effected  by  that  fanatic  Avho  assumed  the 
name  of  Dionysius  the  Areopagite.  His  writings  being  spread 
among  the  Greeks  and  Syrians,  produced  an  incredible  number 
of  disciples :  these  espoused  the  cause  of  mysticism  with  a  de- 
gree of  enthusiasm  bordering  on  madness. §  In  this  century,  this 
sect  passed  into  Italy,  and  the  islands  bordering  on  it,  and  from 
thence  into  Gaul,  and  the  rest  of  Europe. 

*  Bnr.Thes.  on  perfection. 

t  See  Bar.  Thes.  on  falling  from  grace. 

%  Mosh.  cent.  ii.  p.  2.  c.  1.  cent.  iii.  p.  2.  c.  3. 

§  Mosh.  vol.  i.  cent.  4.  p.  2.  c.  3. 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  53 

But  the  oriental  mystics  differed  widely  from  those  of  the 
West.  In  mortifying  the  body,  and  in  disengaging  the  soul  from 
its  influence,  and  in  exciting  the  internal  light,  the  former  imitat- 
ed the  manners  of  the  idiot,  and  sometimes  those  of  the  maniac. 
They  withdrew  into  solitudes,  whence  occasionally  they  would 
make  sallies  in  a  state  of  perfect  nudity,  and  run  with  ferocious 
looks,  till  nature  was  exhausted.  Some  of  them  retired  mto  caves^ 
Avhere  they  remained  motionless,  and  in  awful  silence,  or  edified 
themselves  by  lacerating  their  miserable  bodies.  Some  sat  for 
hours  in  a  bending  position,  with  their  eyes  fixed  on  some  parti- 
cular object;  some  threw  themselves  down  and  remained  in  cer- 
tain postures  until  they  fell  into  a  trance ;  some  squinting  their 
eyes  inward,  fixed  an  earnest  look  on  the  tops  of  their  noses; 
others,  (and  hence  the  UnibilicanI  of  famous  memory.)  kept  their 
eyes  eagerly  and  immoveably  fixed  on  the  middle  region  of  their 
belly,  or  the  navel,  until  the  pure  light  beamed  forth  from  their 
souls,  and  the  still  voice  of  their  divine  teacher  tcithin  was  distinctly 
heard.*  The  mystics  of  the  west  did  not  go  all  these  lengths : 
they  owed  it  not  to  principle,  but  to  the  effects  of  a  rigid  climate, 
and  their  national  habits,  that  they  were  less  frantic,  and  more 
indulgent  to  their  health  and  comfort.f 

There  were  three  different  classes  of  these  fanatics.  The 
Cenobites  lived  in  one  community,  under  one  chief,  who  was  in 
later  times  called  Abbot.  The  hermits  lived  in  cottages  or  caves, 
remote  from  the  haunts  of  men  or  social  comfort.  The  anchor- 
ites frequented  the  wildest  deserts  without  the  shelter  of  a  cave 
or  a  cottage ;  and  whenever  night  found  them,  they  threw  them- 
selves down  and  slept  on  the  ground.  This  last  class  often  wan- 
dered into  cities,  and  mingling  with  society  they  called  on  all 
to  repent,  and  pretended  to  confirm  their  claims  to  a  divine  mis- 
sion by  their  miracles.  They  had  no  regular  means  of  support, 
but  were  supported  by  the  hands  of  charity. J 

In  the  fifth  century,  this  sect  received  a  fresh  impulse  in  the 
west  by  the  translation  of  Plato  into  Latin.     Greek  was  little 

*  Mosh.  cent.  4.  part  2.  ch.  3.  sec.  14. 

t  Mosh.  cent.  14.  part  2.  c.  5. 

j  Mosh,  do.  sec.  15  &  Niceph.  Eccles.  Hist.  Tom.  i.  cap.  15.  16.  p. 
707.  Milner  ch.  hist.  vol.  ii.  cent.  4.  chap.  v.  Spanhcm,  Sac.  et  Eccl. 
Hist.  p.  934.  fol. 


54?  •An  Historical  Dissertation. 

known  in  the  west :  even  to  the  men  of  letters,  Plato  was  a  sealed 
book.  This  translation  put  it  into  every  body's  hands ;  hence 
it  happened,  said  an  ancient  writer,  that  all  those  Latins  who 
had  any  inclination  to  study  the  truth,  fell  into  the  notions  of 
Plato.* 

In  the  sixth  century,  two  events  fell  out,  which  procured  fresh 
accessions  to  its  numbers.  The  one  was  the  more  extensive 
circulation  of  the  writings  of  the  fictitious  Dionysius,  explain- 
ed and  enforced  by  the  annotations  of  John  of  Scythopolis.t 
The  other  was  the  overthrow  of  the  Platonic  schools  under 
the  care  of  the  pagan  philosophers.  From  the  age  of  Ammo- 
oius  Saccas,  these  schools  had  been  in  a  flourishing  state.  In  the 
fourth  century  they  produced  some  distinguished  men,  who,  in 
their  turn,  raised  still  higher,  the  forms  of  these  schools.  Of 
these  pupils,  Plotinus  was  the  most  eminent ;  he  taught  the  Pla- 
tonic system  in  Persia,  and  in  the  west  as  far  as  Rome.  Ilis 
successors  were  Amelius,  Porphyry,  and  Jamblicus ;  and  in  the 
fifth  centur}^,  Syrianus  and  Proclus  flourished.  Seven  philoso- 
phers of  smaller  name  succeeded  Proclus;  but  the  glory  of 
these  once  famous  schools  of  Athens  and  Alexandria,  was  hasten- 
ing to  depart.  The  fame  of  the  Platonic  christian  doctors  gradu- 
ally drew  off"  their  pupils,  and  the  edict  of  Justinian  completed 
their  ruin  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century  .J  From  this 
time  the  Platonic  philosophers  began  to  take  shelter  under  the 
chinstian  name.  They  carried  with  them  into  the  bosom  of 
the  church,  a  vast  accession  of  strength  to  the  mystics.  These 
flourished  chiefly  in  the  east.  But  the  ninth  century  was  a  new 
era  to  them  in  the  western  empire. 

Michael  Balbus,  the  emperor  of  the  Greeks,  presented  a  copy 
of  the  works  of  Dionysius  to  Louis  the  Meek,  emperor  of  the 
westj  by  his  orders  it  was  carefully  translated  into  Latin. § 
Another  and  a  more  elegant  translation  was  executed  by  John 
Scot  Erigena,  under  the  patronage  of  the  emperor  Charles  the 
Bald.  That  learned  Irishman  was  not  content  with  translating 
the  pages  of  the  pretended  Dionysius ;  he  incorporated  the  mys- 

*  Sidon.  Appolinarius  Epist.  Lib.  9.  Ep.  9.  &c.  Mosh.  ii.  cent.  v.  p.  2. 
ch.  1.  sec.  3. 

■j-  Mosh.  ii.  cent.  vi.  p.  2.  c.  3.  sec  6. 

X  Mosh.  ii.  cent.  vi.  part2.  ch.  1.  sec.  4. 

§  Ab.  Hilduini  Areopagetica  p.  66.  Edit,  of  1563. 


«5k  Historical  Dissertation.  99 

tic  doctrine  into  his  system  of  philosophy.  By  means  of  his 
writings,  which  were  much  read,  and  under  the  extensive  patron- 
age of  the  emperors,  the  sect  of  the  mystics  carried  its  triumphs 
into  Germany,  and  France  and  Italy.* 

The  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  present  a  melancholy  pic- 
ture of  the  condition  of  the  church,  and  of  the  state  of  learning. 
Gloomy  superstition  dozed  on  her  throne,  and  shed  her  baleful 
influence  on  the  minds  of  men.  In  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth 
centuries,  the  mystics  produced  several  writers  ;  these  gave  forth 
expositions  of  the  scriptures :  in  all  their  sentiments  they  were 
guided  by  their  gloomy  philosophy,  and  they  forced  the  pure 
doctrines  of  the  gospel  into  an  odious  conformity  with  their  vi- 
sionary scheme. 

§  5.  While  mysticism  and  superstition  were  struggling  for  the 
superiority  in  the  dark  ages  of  catholic  Europe,  a  fresh  torrent 
of  the  eastern  philosophy  was  poured  in  through  Italy.  Various 
causes  combined  to  produce  this.  From  the  beginning  of  the 
eleventh  century,  the  thirst  for  knowledge  had  been  encreasing; 
the  progress  made  in  the  succeeding  centuries,  little  though  it 
was,  seemed  to  add  a  fresh  stimulus  to  the  human  mind  to  throw 
off  the  yoke  of  darkness.  In  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, the  works  of  the  ancients  were  sought  after  with  extraor- 
dinary avidity.  "•  The  discovery  of  an  ancient  manuscript  was 
regarded  as  almost  equal  to  the  conquest  of  a  kingdom."  Among 
the  men  of  letters,  who  distinguished  themselves  in  the  collection 
of  manuscripts,  we  find  the  names  of  Poggio  and  Arispa.  The 
last  having  travelled  into  the  East,  returned  in  A/  D.  1423,  with 
238  manuscripts ;  among  these  were  all  the  works  of  Plato,  Plo- 
tinus  and  Proclus.t  In  A.  D.  1438,  a  general  council  was  held 
at  Ferrara,  by  the  order  of  Pope  Eugenius  IV,  to  settle  the  points 
in  dispute  between  the  Roman  church  and  the  Greek  church. 
In  the  retinue  of  the  emperor  of  the  East,  who  attended  the 
council,  was  Pletho,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  scholars  of  the 
age ;  and  one  who  was  passionately  devoted  to  the  Platonic  phi- 
losophy.J  During  his  residence  at  Ferrara,  and  afterwards  at 

*  Mosh.  ii.  cent.  9.  p.  2.  ch.  3.  sec.  12. 
t  Roscoe's  Lor  De  Med.  vol.  i.  p.  33,  &c. 

t  Fabricii  Bibl.  Grace  torn.  X.  p.  739,  75Pi.  Gibbon's  Rome,  vol.  viii. 
ch.  66. 


56  An  Historical  Dissertation. 

Florence,  whither  the  council  had  been  removed,  he  was  assidu-: 
ous  in  propagating  his  sentiments.  Among  the  men  of  learning 
and  influence,  he  allured  from  Aristotle  to  the  faith  of  Plato,  \vas 
Cosmo  De  Medici.  This  zealous  convert  founded  the  Platonic 
Academy  at  Florence.  He  selected  Ficino,  one  of  his  domes- 
tics, and  had  him  trained  up  with  the  utmost  care,  in  the  new 
System,  that  he  might  be  the  ornament  of  the  new  academy  and 
the  champion  of  Plato.  Under  the  patronage  of  the  family  of 
the  Medici,  and  by  the  enthusiastic  labours  of  Ficino,  the  sys- 
tem gained  a  complete  triumph  over  Aristode.  At  the  feast  or- 
dained in  honour  of  Plato,  it  was  the  custom  to  read  or  recite  out 
of  that  philosopher ;  and  all  in  the  assembly  were  invited  to  make 
comments  on  the  passages.  Besides  the  more  early  translations 
ot  Plato  by  Aretino,  those  of  Ficino  appeared  first  at  Florence, 
without  date,  and  afterwards  at  Venice  in  A.  D.  1491.  His  ver- 
sion of  Plotinus  was  published  in  1492.  He  translated  the  ele- 
ments of  theology  by  Proclus,  and  wrote  tracts  "  De  opinionibus 
circa  Deum  et  animam.^^  "  De  divino  furore  ;"  "  De  lumine."* 
This  laborious  Platonist  gave  us  a  practical  proof  of  the  natural 
tendency  of  his  prhiciples ;  he  became  a  warm  disciple  and  ad- 
vocate of  mysticism.! 

This  academy  flourished  under  Lorenzo  the  son  of  Cosmo,  and 
under  Pope  Leo  X.  the  son  of  Lorenzo,  a  most  eminent  patron  of 
Plato,  and  of  learned  men.  From  Italy,  as  a  centre,  the  Plato- 
nic doctrines  were  difl'used  through  Europe  by  the  zeal  of  the 
different  orders  of  monks  and  priests.  Among  these  missiona- 
ries of  Plato,  was  Nefo  of  Padua,  who  distinguished  himself  in  the 
cause  by  his  *^eatise  "  De  intellectu  et  Demonibus."  He  held 
the  unity  of  spiritual  existence,  and  taught  that  one  soul  anima- 
ted all  nature.|  Among  the  pupils  who  frequented  the  Platonic 
Academy,  we  find  some  from  England ;  the  most  distinguished 
were  Grocin,  who  afterwards  filled  a  Greek  chair  in  Oxford,  and 
Linacer,  who  bears  the  honour  of  being  the  founder  of  the  col- 
lege of  physicians  of  London,  and  its  first  president. 

*  Roscoe's  Life  of  Lor.  De  Medici,  i.  p.  33,  33,  50,  77,  224,  226,  iii. 
293,  &.C. 
•{•  Mosh.  iii.  cent.  15.  part  2.  c.  3.  sec.  11. 
t  Roscoe's  Life  of  Leo  X.  vol.  IV.  123.  131. 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  67 

§  6.  While  this  philosophy  maintained  its  march  for  ages,  it 
attached  to  its  standard,  men  of  letters  and  theologians  of  every 
rank.  The  former,  not  having  devoted  much  attention  to  the 
christian  theology,  were  satisfied  merely  with  speculations  on 
Plato.  It  was  the  latter  cla?s  that  became  the  bold  and  danger- 
ous innovators.  They  were  better  instructed  in  the  Platonism 
of  Saccas  than  in  the  pure  doctrines  of  Christ.  They  borrowed 
the  name  of  our  Lord :  they  were  the  zealous  and  enthusiastic 
disciples  of  Saccas :  they  carried  into  effect  what  their  master 
had  begun :  they  drew  out  his  principles  to  their  full  extent,  and 
lowered  the  holy  truth  and  institutions  of  Christ  to  that  impious 
standard.  They  soon  discovered  that  their  favourite  sentiments 
superseded  the  doctrines  which  the  church  had  regarded  as  fun- 
damental. The  rules  for  the  contemplative  life,  and  the  cathartic 
virtues  for  clarifying  the  soul,  superseded  the  external  ordinances 
of  the  church.  Their  sacrilegious  hands  spared  not  even  the 
most  solemn  ordinances  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper. 

In  different  ages  individuals  arose,  who  had  the  resolution  to 
avow  their  opinions,  and  though  evidently  guided  by  different  mo- 
tives, and  combining  in  their  motley  system  conflicting  sentiments, 
and  pursuing  forms  of  argument  the  most  contradictory ;  they  al- 
ways contrived  to  arrive  at  the  same  height  of  folly  and  mysti- 
cism. 

In  the  early  ages  some  of  them  appeared  in  the  Syrian  and 
Greek  churches.  The  most  conspicuous  of  these  were  the  Nova- 
tians,  or  Cathari.  They  placed  religion  in  internal  prayer :  and 
they  rejected  external  forms,  and  both  sacraments.  In  the  days 
of  Tertullian  a  female  preacher  declaimed  at  Carthage  against 
the  sacraments.*  In  the  second  century  the  followers  of  Monta- 
nus  yielded  themselves  up  to  the  demon  within,  which  they  ho- 
noured with  the  title  of  inspiration ;  and  they  substituted  some- 
thins;  like  the  Platonic  triad  for  the  christian  doctrine  of  the  Tri- 
nity.  The  Pepurians,  among  other  extravagances,  elected  their 
bishops,  under  aid  of  divine  impulses,  from  among  their  female 
orators.!  The  Paulicians,  who  appeared  in  the  East  in  the 
ninth  century,  formed  a  numerous  class  of  the  Mystic  Theolo- 


•  Tertul.  lib.  de  Bapt.  and  Wall  in  his  Hist,  of  Baptism. 
I  Broughton's  Diet,  of  all  Relig.ii.  551. 

It 


58  tin  Historical  Dissertation. 

gians.  They  passed  out  of  Asia  Minor  into  Thrace :  from  Greece 
they  passed  into  Sicily  and  Venice  ;  and  by  the  pilgrims  of  Hun- 
gary, in  their  return  from  Jerusalem,  they  were  ushered  into  Ger- 
many :*  and  at  the  close  of  this  century  a  band  of  them,  headed 
by  Gerard  and  Dulcimus,  disseminated  their  opinions  in  Eng- 
land.! They  rejected  the  external  means  of  grace,  and  particu- 
larly the  holy  sacraments.^  The  followers  of  Lucopetros,  in  the 
twelfth  century,  were  their  associates  in  violence  against  the 
holy  institutions  of  Christ.  In  this  century  appeared  the  fanatic 
Tanquelmus.  If  ever  there  was  a  transmigration  of  souls,  his 
soul  must  have  passed,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  into  Fox,  or 
into  the  notorious  Naylor :  for,  like  the  latter,  and  from  the  same 
gross  conceptions  respecting  the  demon,  the  light,  or  the  Christ 
7i:ithin^  he  fancied  himself  to  be  the  very  Son  of  God ;  and  re- 
jected, with  scorn,  the  ordinances  of  the  church  of  Christ.  In 
the  thirteenth  century  Amauri  published  his  reveries.  He  em- 
braced the  fanatical  views  of  Christ  in  us.  He  taught,  that  as 
there  are  three  in  the  Godhead,  there  were  to  be  three  grand 
epochs  in  the  government  of  the  world  :  the  first  was  the  empire 
of  the  Father— that  expired  with  the  Jewish  law.  The  second 
was  the  empire  of  the  Son—that  ceased  with  the  gospel,  about  the 
year  1260.  Then  commenced  the  empire  of  the  Spirit™and  un- 
der this  the  abolition  of  the  sacraments,  and  of  all  external 
means  of  worship  took  place. § 

The  repose  of  ignorance  was  disturbed  also  by  the  brethren 
and  sisters  of  the  True  Spirit.  Their  leading  tenet  was  this ;  there 
is  something  in  every  man  that  is  neither  created  nor  susceptible 
of  creation.  This  is  the  logos,  or  reason,  or  word.  They  advo- 
cated perfection,  and  every  perfect  man  was  a  Christ.  Having 
this  lofty  privilege,  they  felt  no  need  of  sacraments,  or  of  any  ex- 
ternal means  of  worship.  They  were  also  distinguished  by  "  their 
singular  and  fantastic  apparel."i| 

The  sect  of  Whippcrs  excited  violent  tumults  in  this  century. 


*  Gibbon's  Rome,  vii.  chap.  54. 
t  Wall's  Hist.  Bap.  by  Fuller,  p.  120,  &c. 
t  Mosh.  ii.  c  ix.  p.  2.  chap.  5.  and  cent.  xi.  p.  2.  c.  5.  sec.  4- 
§  Mosh  iii.  cent.  xiii.  p.  2.  ch.  1.  sec.  T.  Lemp.  Biog.  Diet.  art.  Amaurj. 
The  Joachimites  held  the  same. 

tl  Mosh. iii.  cent,  xiii.  part  2.  ch.  2.  sec.  9, 10, 11. 


Jin  Historical  Dissertation.  5,9 

They  had  adopted  the  Platonic  rules  for  purifying  the  soul  by 
mortifying  the  body,  and  carried  them  into  a  most  rigorous  ex- 
ecution. They  put  on  sackcloth :  they  assumed  melancholy 
looks  :  they  laid  aside  all  music  and  musical  instruments :  they 
avoided  pleasures,  and  even  innocent  amusements,  as  hostile  to 
piety :  they  held  that  bodily  mortifications  possessed  equal  me- 
rit and  efficacy  as  baptism,  or  any  other  christian  rite :  and  they 
subjected  their  bodies  to  severe  macerations.  This  sect  spread 
its  fury  over  German}^,  France,  and  Italy.  It  found  its  way  into 
kings  palaces.  The  king  of  France  marched  in  one  of  their  pro- 
fessions, half  naked,  and  armed  with  his  whip;  and  the  cardinal 
of  Lorraine,  pious  soul !  gave  up  the  ghost,  in  consequence  of  cold 
caught  in  his  undress,  while  under  the  whip.*  History  traces 
them  down  as  far  as  the  year  1601.  t 

In  the  fourteenth  century  Taulerus  was  himself  a  host  in  ex> 
tending  the  power  of  mysticism.  The  following  is  the  sum  of  his 
doctrine.  In  every  man  there  are  three  men :  the  outward,  which 
must  be  mortified ;  the  inward,  or  the  soul,  which  "  becomes  di- 
vine, and  is  wholly  like  God ;''  and  there  is  the  fund  of  the  soul, 
or  the  most  inward  spirit.  In  this  fund  God  hcis  founded  himself. 
He  lies  there  hid.  It  is  there  that  he  begets  his  only  begotten 
Son ;  this  Son  is  the  light  within.  When  one  is  moved  to  introvert 
he  must  lay  aside  his  outward  powers ;  he  must  lay  aside  singing 
and  reading,  and  other  good  works ;  he  must  sink  down  into  the 
fund,  and  follow  the  divine  drazoings  with  all  his  heart.  He  will 
soon  feel  the  power  of  God,  the  Father ;  his  spirit  will  be  so  re- 
formed by  God's  spirit,  that  he  will  take  the  right  and  pure  way. 
God  pom's  himself  forth  into  his  spirits,  and  he  is  filled  with  light 
as  the  air  with  the  beams  of  the  sun.  There  is  such  a  union  form- 
ed in  him  that  he  cannot  discern  between  the  created  and  the  un- 
created spirit ;  his  soul  is  made  perfect ;  it  is  swallowed  up  in  the 
essence  of  God ;  it  loses  itself,  and  swims  in  him  as  in  an  abyss.:[ 

His  sermons  contain  perhaps  the  most  complete  system  ex- 
tant of  the  Platonism  of  Saccas.  They  were  preached  at  Cologne 
in  A.  D.  1346,  and  poured  forth  a  deluge  of  fanaticism  among  the 

*  Boileau's  Hist,  of  Flagellarites.chap.  23. 
f  De  Thou's  Hist,  of  his  own  times. 

X  Tauler's  Sermons,  passim,  and  Browne's  '■  Quakerism,"  p.  431,  &?. 
4to.edit.  A.  D.  1678. 


60  An  Historical  Dissertation, 

Gommon  people.  They  were  published  in  Dutch,  at  Antwerp,  in 
A.  D.  1647 ;  and  Cressy,  a  Catholic  priest  of  England,  embodied 
their  sentiments  into  his  "  Sancta  Sophia,"  and  pubhshed  a  trans- 
lation of  them  in  England,  in  A.  D.  1657.* 

Paracelsus,  the  fine  philosopher  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and 
Postello,t  in  the  sixteenth,  laboured  in  the  same  cause.  To  this 
list  we  may  add  the  names  of  Wigelius,  and  D.  George,  and  the 
family  of  Love;  but  the  most  active  at  this  period  was  Behmen, 
ofGorlitz.  This  fanatic  commenced  his  career  in  1600.  Like 
Fox,  he  was  a  cordwainer,  and  possessed  a  mind  gloomy  and  illi- 
terate. He  claimed  the  honours  of  inspiration.  He  was  "  first 
entranced,"  (I  use  his  own  account  of  it.)  "  by  the  light  of  God  ; 
and  the  astral  spirit  of  his  soul  by  the  sudden  glance  of  his  eye 
on  a  bright  pewter  plate."  This  flash  entered  the  fund  of  his  soul, 
and  roused  up  the  light  within  to  such  a  degree,  that  "  he  could 
look  into  the  heart,  and  the  intimate  nature  of  all  creatures.":}; 
Being  thus  constituted  a  prophet,  by  the  help  "of  a  pewter 
plate,"  he  laboured,  after  the  manner  of  Taulerus,  to  bring  the 
degenerate  world  back  to  the  paths  of  mysticism. 

Taulerus  and  Behmen  are  not  a  little  indebted  to  their  Eng- 
lish disciples.  These  have  scattered  some  rays  of  light  over  a 
system  enveloped  in  Egyptian  darkness.  To  Cressy,  and  to  Sir 
Harry  Vane,  and,  long  after  them,  to  William  Law,  the  modern 
mystics  owe  their  sincere  gratitude.  These,  with  others  of  infe- 
rior name,  certainly  reduced  the  system  to  something  of  a  tangi- 
ble form,  and  put  it  into  extensive  circulation  in  England^.  On 
the  continent  of  Europe  they  had  also  distinguished  advocates. 
They  had  Kotter  and  Hiel ;  and,  in  Germany,  Labadie.  The 
latter  stood  high  among  his  visionary  compatriots.  After  many 
J- ears  faithful  services,  the  Society  of  Friends  in  England  did,  by 
their  deputies,  Barclay  and  Penn,  ofter  him  the  right  hand  of  fel- 
lowship. And  in  this  list  of  their  authors  we  should  deserve 
blame  if  Ve  omitted  the  name  of  Molinos.  He  was  a  Spanish 
priest.  By  his  book,  the  "  Spiritu  Alguide,"§  he  did  much  to  sub- 

•  Stillingfleet'sldol.  and  Superst.  of  the  Roman  Church,  2d  edit.  p. 
285,  &.C. 

■j-Post.  Absenditosum.  See.  No.  612,  diied.  Phil.  Library. 

X  Memoirs  of  Behmen,  translated  by  Okely,  j).  8,  &,c. 

§  Published  in  Spanish  and  other  languages.  Lempr.  Biog.  Diet. 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  61 

serve  the  cause  of  Quietism,  before  the  cruel  talons  of  the  Inqui- 
sition had  pounced  upon  him  with  their  deadly  violence. 

§  7.  The  writings  of  these  mystics  had  been  widely  spread  in 
England  in  the  commencement  of  the  seventeenth  century.  They 
had  been  industriously  circulated  in  small  tracts  and  pamphlets : 
ihey  had  been  made  accessible  to  the  poorest  cottager :  they  had 
sown  the  seed  of  mysticism  in  the  hearts  of  great  multitudes,  and 
it  was  preparing  to  shoot  up  in  every  irregular  form,  under  the 
first  favourable  opportunity. 

The  Protestant  church  rendered  every  facility  to  this;  and  the 
question  has  been  invidiously  put — "  Whence  came  it  that  she  has 
originated  this  fanaticism  ?^' 

It  is  very  evident  that  these  sects,  mentioned  above,  did  exist 
in  their  most  obnoxious  forms  within  the  pale  of  the  Romish 
church.*  But  it  is  frankly  admitted  that  they  appeared  neither  so 
numerous,  nor  so  daring,  as  at  the  Reformation,  and  among  the 
the  Protestant  churches.  The  fact  is  this :  they  lost  all  their  cre- 
dit with  the  Romish  church  at  that  trying  period ;  they  had  not 
the  ability  nor  the  disposition  to  defend  that  church  in  her  pom- 
pous external  rites  ;  they  were  driven  out  of  her  pale.  They  turn- 
ed theii"  eyes  on  that  liberty,  and  perfect  freedom  of  sentiment 
hat  was  permitted  in  the  Protestant  church.  They  saw  that  sen- 
timents and  practices  which  would  have  brought  them  under  the 
maternal  care  of  the  Catholic  church,  to  the  stake,  were,  in  gene- 
ral, tolerated,  or  at  least  attacked  only  by  the  argument  of  the 
learned,  which  brought  no  bodily  pains.  They,  therefore,  eagerly 
pressed  into  the  liberty  of  the  Protestant  church  ;  and  being  in- 
toxicated by  their  prophetic  fury,  and  the  spirit  of  their  newly 
acquired  liberty,  they  were  prepared  to  rush  into  every  extra- 
vagance ;  and  in  proportion  as  a  nation  and  a  church  become 
agitated  by  civil  and  religious  broils,  the  fury  of  fanaticism  rages 
long  and  fiercely ;  for  in  these  gloomy  periods  the  human  mind 
becomes  more  easily  a  prey  to  superstition.  In  such  times,  also, 
it  frequently  happens  that  the  ministry,  the  guardians  of  truth 
and  good  order,  have  their  attention  distracted  by  other  objects, 
or  are  wholly  thrown  off  their  guard  ;  or  they  have  been  actu- 

♦  Stillingfleet's  Idol,  and  Superst.  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  ut  supra. 


62  An  Historical  Dissertation. 

ally  hurried  into  prisons  or  into  exile.    Then  the  wolves  enter  in 
and  devour  the  unguarded  flock. 

All  these  causes  were  in  full  operation  in  the  middle  of  the  se- 
venteenth century,  when  the  Society  of  Friends  arose.  The  infa- 
tuation and  cruelty  of  James  I.  and  the  fanatical  *tyranny  of 
Charles  I.  had  spread  a  wide  desolation  in  the  church.     The 
minds  of  the  people  had,  in  the  meantime,  received  a  powerful 
impulse,  from  the  haughtj^  encroachments  made  on  their  liber- 
ties. Bold  and  daring,  and  fond  of  liberty,  the  English  rose  in- 
dignant against  the  folly  and  wickedness  of  their  princes.  Their 
vengeance  fell  on  the  head  of  Charles  I,  who  died,  literally,  a 
"  royal  martyr :"  but  a  martyr  in  the  holy  cause  of  the  absolute 
supremacy  of  kings  by  divine  right ;  and  in  the  more  holy  cause 
of  the  divine  right  of  a  bloody  and  persecuting  hierarchy.!     The 
interregnum  of  Cromwell  succeeded.     There  lived  in  that  age 
some  of  England's  greatest  divines  and  civilians;  but  all  the  in- 
fluence of  these  persons,  their  sensible  and  rational  piety,    their' 
love  of  good  order,  their  zeal  for  the  purity  of  truth,  and  the  best 
interests  of  the  church  and  kingdom,  could  not  stem,  nor  even 
turn  out  of  its  course,  that  torrent  of  religious  phrenzy  which  de- 
solated England.    Episcopalians,  and  Independents,  and  Presbj-- 
Icrians  rose,  and  triumphed,  and  fell  in  succession.     The  mighty 
combat  too  frequently  raged  about  outward  forms  and  customs. 
andpriests''  dresses !  They  persecuted,  and  they  were  persecuted 
in  their  turn !    Whilst  these  three  great  bodies,  united  and  led  on 
by  the  best  men  in  the  land,  were  struggling  for  existence  and 
liberty,  the  church  beheld,  arising  before  her  astonished  eyes,  a 
new  sect,  and  unheard  of  before  in  England. 

The  dreadful  blow  given  to  the  faithful  ministry,  in  the  reigns 
of  Elizabeth,  James,  and  Charles,  by  crushing  their  influence, 
prepared  the  way  for  this  sect.  Such  was  the  degree  of  oppres- 
sion by  the  high  court  of  com.njissions,  under  Elizabeth,  that  no 
honest  man  could  safely  come  forward  into  the  sacred  office. 
Hence  the  deplorable  state  of  the  ministry  in  that  period.  Of 
one  hundred  and  forty  ministers  in  Cornwall,  not  one  could 
preach  a  sermon.     Man}^  of  them  were  non-residenters :  manv  of 

;    *  He  believed  and  acted  on  tlie  principle  of  the  diviiie  right  of  Jcinpi! 
jSeo  Hume's  account  of  his  trial,  vol.  v.  and  Xeal  Hist,  partiii.  ch  .7 


•3w  Historical  Dissertation.  f>8 

them  were  immoral :  some  of  them  branded  felons :  and  some  Pa- 
pists in  disguise.*  Faithful  ministers  were  not  permitted  to  preach, 
nor  even  to  teach,  without  submitting  to  terms  at  which  their 
consciences  revolted.  Hence  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  to  sec 
learned  and  pious  ministers  actually  reduced  to  beg  their  daily 
bread.t  By  the  tyranny  of  the  court,  seconded  by  that  of  the 
archbishop,  many  thousand  parishes  were  deprived  of  their  pas- 
tors, and  the  people  were  left  a  prey  to  ignorance  and  fanaticism. 
The  court  clergy  were  in  the  habit  of  declaring  baptism  to  be  re- 
generation. Midwives  w"ere  formally  licensed  by  bishops  to  bap- 
tize infants.  This  had  a  tendency  to  bring  this  holy  institution 
into  contempt  with  many. 

The  creatures  of  Elizabeth,  who  filled  the  highest  places  in 
the  church,  to  roll  off  themselves  the  public  odium,  had  trans- 
ferred the  prosecution  of  the  non-conforming  clergy  to  the  civil 
courts.  Hence  ministers  in  the  church  were  tried  at  the  common 
assizes  ;J  and  being  thus  compelled  to  mingle  at  the  bar  with 
rogues  and  felons,  neither  venerable  years,  nor  learning,  nor 
piety,  could  protect  them  from  insults.  Though  called  to  answer 
merely  to  the  charge  of  not  conforming  to  certain  customs  and 
dresses,  not  even  pretended  to  be  essential,  nor  even  necessary 
to  th'^  religion  of  Christ,  the  vulgar,  who  judge  often  from  ap- 
pearances, heaped  on  these  venerable  men  reproaches  and  in- 
sults, which  ought  to  be  spared  even  against  the  vilest  criminals. 
This  gave  a  deep  wound  to  the  character  of  the  ministry. 

Another  cause  of  their  depression  is  to  be  sought  for  in  the  cir- 
cumstances attending  the  progress  of  the  tenets  of  Brownism.  So 
early  as  the  close  of  the  reign  of  queen  Elizabeth,  that  sect  couM 
count  twenty  thousand  adherents  scattered  over  the  kingdom. 
They  were  in  the  habit  of  declaiming  against  the  Episcopal  churck 
as  not  a  true  church ;  against  her  ministry  as  not  a  Christian  mi- 
nistry ;  against  her  form  of  administering  the  holy  sacraments  as 
unscriptural.il  Without  intending  it,  or  at  least  without  anticipa- 
ting all  the  consequences,  their  loose  declamation  led  the  people, 
insensibly,  to  despise  the  church,  the  ministry,  and  the  holy  sa- 
craments. 

♦  See  the  Remonstrance  of  the  Lords  of  the  Council.  Neal  i,  eh.  6. 
t  See  the  case  of  the  learned  Mr.  Paget.  Neal  i.  ch.  7. 
±  Neal  i.  ch.  8.  ||  Neal  ii.  ch.  i. 


64  tin  Historical  Biasertatiun. 

The  peculiar  tenets  of  this  sect  operated  another  way :  it  was 
their  sentiment  that  every  "  gifted  brother''  should  be  at  liberty 
to  speak  freely  in  the  church.  The  Society  seemed  to  leave  the 
proof  of  their  gifts  to  every  one  who  laid  claims  to  them ;  and  as 
the  mass  of  mankind  are  not  unwilling  to  admit  their  gifts,  the 
world  was  soon  filled  and  overwhelmed  with  exhorters.  In  market 
places,  and  in  churches  after  the  ministers  had  closed  the  ser- 
vices, the  "  gifted  brothers"  would  seize  every  opportunity  to 
pour  forth  their  indigested  effusions.  These  exhibitions  increased 
w^ith  the  increasing  liberty  of  that  age.  They  received  a  fresh 
impulse  from  the  fanaticism  of  Cromwell  and  his  dependants: 
they  carried  them  to  the  summit  of  extravagance.  In  his  new 
model  of  the  army,  Cromwell  had  appointed  no  chaplains ;  and 
after  the  battle  of  Naseby,  the  chaplains,  who  had  till  this  time  re- 
tained their  stations,  returned  to  their  cures.  From  this  time  en- 
thusiasm spread  through  the  army  with  a  sweeping  desolation.* 
The  officers  acted  as  chaplains.  Wherever  they  came  they  seized 
on  the  pulpits  and  preached.  They  poured  out  in  rapturous 
style  their  crude  and  extravagant  opinions.  They  mistook  the 
passion  of  speaking  for  inspirations.  Even  the  common 
soldiers  Avere  carried  away  by  the  same  spirit.  They  spent 
their  leisure  hours  in  preaching  to  the  people.  Mechanics,  and,  at 
last,  the  women  could  no  longer  restrain  the  spirit:  they  assem- 
bled their  audiences,  and  preached  and  prayed  with  marvellous 
fluency.!  The  voice  of  reason,  and  of  the  scriptures,  and  of  the 
ministry,  was  lost  in  the  general  tumult. 

Among  the  sectarians  who  iigured  at  that  time,  we  find  the 
Seekers,  the  Familists  and  the  Behmenites,  particularly  specified.^ 
They  had  propagated  their  tenets  by  means  of  humble  pamphlets, 
industriously  scattered  among  the  people.  They  were  in  the  habit 
of  entering  churches,  and  interrupting  the  ministry  during  divine 
service.  They  taught  by  word  and  by  signs.  They  walked  the 
streets  in  sackcloth,  denouncing  woes.  Six  soldiers  entered  a  pa- 
rish, church  :  one  of  them  had  five  candles ;  he  declared  that 
five  things  were  now  abolished ;  and  he  proceeded  to  extinguish  a 
candle  as  he  named  the  different  articles.    Of  these  five  things 

♦  A.  D.  1645.  See  Hunie,  vol.  v.  ch.  57.  Nealiii.  ch.  7. 
t  Warner's  Eccl.  Hist.  ii.  p.  569. 
t  Edward's  Gangrena. 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  €5 

a1x)lishocl,  three  were  the  Sabbath,  the  ministry,  and  the  holy 
Bible,* 

§  8.  In  this  general  confusion  of  things  in  church  and  state, 
and  when  the  harvest  of  fana  icism  was  ready  for  an  enterprising 
reaper,  George  Fox  appeared  in  his  public  character :  this  was 
about  the  year  1644. 

As  in  every  other  case,  where  the  founder  of  a  new  sect 
is  brought  into  view,  the  most  opposite  characters  are  given 
of  this  man.  His  converts  have  canonized  him.  Eccles  styled  him 
"  the  friend  of  God,  and  the  great  apostle  of  Christ."t  And  Pcnn, 
who  professed  never  to  give  vain  titles ;  who  would  not  lift  his 
hat  to  his  father,  nor  even  to  his  king ;  honours  him  with  the  ti- 
tle of  "  a  man  of  God,  a  true  prophet,  and  a  true  aposlle.''|  El- 
woocl,§  after  having  tacked  together,  in  his  character,  almost  all 
the  adjectives  of  the  English  language,  seems  to  deplore  the  bar- 
renness of  its  epithets.  The  Society  did  an  honour  to  his  Journal 
which  they  have  not  yet  vouchsafed  to  the  holiest  volume :  they 
introduced  it  into  their  meeting  in  the  Savoj^^,  London,  and  depo- 
sited it  in  a  box,  there  to  be  at  hand,  as  their  text  book ;  and  in 
their  famous  school  at  Bansworth,  select  passages  were  enjoined 
to  be  read  every  day  by  the  pupils.|]  Some  of  his  converts  have 
gone  greater  lengths:  Audland  addressed  him  in  the  style 
of  prayer.TF  Cole  called  him  the  '^  father  of  many  nations." 
*"  Fox's  power,"  he  said,  '•  had  reached  through  his  children  to 
the  isles  afar  off.""—"  His  being  and  habitation  was  in  the  power 
of  the  highest,  by  whose  power  he  ruled  and  reigned ;  his  king- 
dom was  established  in  peace,  and  the  increase  thereof  is  without 
end."  Nor  was  this  the  language  of  obscurity  and  ignorance : 
Penn  actually  justifies  and  applauds  this  homage  paid  to  Fox.** 
It  was  from  this  testimony  of  loyalty  that  the  wits  of  that  age  styled 
him  "  King  George  Fox :"  his  attending  ministers  were  ^'  his 
court :"  his  dogmatical  episdes  were  "  royal  edicts."!! 

*  Hume's  History,  vol.  v.  and  note  pp. 

fBugg.  p.  177.  :{:  Vol.  ii.  211.  §  Pref.  to  Fox.  Jour. 

II  Leslie  "  Snake,"  &c.  p.  147,  148.  ed.  of  1696. 

i  See  his  letter,  in  itsorig.  fornn.,  in  the  "Snake,"  p.  369.  third  ed.  and 
BuggPict.  p.  67,  A.D.  1714. 

*•  See  Bugg's  New  Rome,  p.  33,  34,  and  these  words  of  Cole  defended 
by  Penn,  vol.  ii.  215, 216.  and  443. 

tt  "  Spirit  of  the  Hat,"  p.  XI,  and  Penn,  U.  204. 

12 


66  An  Historical  Bisserfation. 

On  the  other  hand,  Dr.  Henrj  More,  the  friend  of  Penn,  held 
up  Fox  to  public  resentment,  as  a  melancholy  fanatic,  an(jt  possessed 
of  a  devil.* 

The  last  character  who  has  attempted  the  character  of  Fox  is 
Clarkson ;  and  though  it  was  done  long  after  the  subsiding  of 
portj^  spirit,  it  is  as  partial,  and  as  wide  of  sober  history,  as 
those  of  his  compatriots.  Without  examining  the  composition  in 
Fox's  public  character,  he  has  contented  himself  with  some  de- 
clamation on  his  courage,  zeal,  and  similar  qualities.  But  such 
had  Nero ;  such  had  Mahommed ;  and  a  Mary,  queen  of  England, 
was  so  conscientious,  and  so  zealous,  that  she  could  not  retain  the 
lands  wrested  from  the  Romish  church,  "  because  she  valued  the 
salvation  of  her  soul  more  than  ten  kingdoms."!  It  is  not  the  pos- 
session merely  of  these  qualities,  it  is  the  cause  in  which  they  are 
called  forth,  and  the  good  motives  which  regulate  them,  that  de- 
termine the  true  character  of  the  agent.  There  have  been  mar- 
tyrs for  every  heresy.  It  is  the  holy  cause  which  makes  the 
Christian  martyr,  B'lartyrdom  merely  demonstrates  the  sincerity 
of  the  sufferer. 

In  drawing  the  character  of  Fox,  I  shall  not,  with  More,  call 
him  "  a  devil :"  neither  shall  I  deify  him ;  and  I  cannot  be 
charged  with  injustice  if  I  shall  take  no  other  book  than  his  own 
Journal,  and  Scwell's  History,  for  my  guides.  I  shall  not  even 
take  the  advantage  of  quotations  from  his  earliest  writings,  nor  the 
first  editions  of  his  book  :  I  will  take  it  as  it  lies  before  the  pub- 
lic, after  having  undergone  the  severest  castigations  of  modern 
critics  :|  for  I  have  proofs  before  me  that  they  have  expunged 
ideas  and  expressions  which  no  modern  ear  could  endure. 

G.  Fox  was  of  an  obscure  birth.  He  was  in  early  youth  appren- 
ticed to  a  cordwainer.  He  was  so  illiterate  that  he  could  scarcely 
write  a  legible  hand,  or  even  spell.  His  letters,  deposited  in 
Zion  college  library,  and  his  will,  were  adduced  to  prove  that  he 
could  not  write  a  sentence  of  correct  English.§  He  was  distin- 
guished in  youth  for  his  sullen  silence ;  in  his  advanced  years 


•  Theol.  works,  folio,  Myst.  of  Godl.  book  10,  ch.  13,  and  Schol.  in 
Dial.  V.  sec.  5. 

I  Warner's  Ch.  Hist.  ji.  371.  folio. 
iPhil.ed.  2  vols.  8vo.  A.  D.  1808. 
4  Ell  wood  wrote  his  Journal. 


•An  Historical  Dissertatio7i.  Ql 

for  the  extreme  volubility  of  his  speech.  He  possessed  uncommon 
sensibility  of  mind  :  he  had  a  tender  and  benevolent  heart.  He 
felt  religious  impressions  at  an  early  age  :  he  spoke  with  ardour 
of  the  love  of  God.^Had  he  been  placed  in  proper  hands  at  that 
interesting  crisis,  he  might  have  become  a  useful  citizen,  and  of 
service  to  the  church ;  but  he  was  seduced  by  the  ignorance  and 
fanaticism  of  the  age.]  He  was  a  mystic  after  the  manner  of  Beh- 
men  :  he  came,  like  nim,  through  the  ordeal  of  silence  and  deep 
retirement.  In  his  doublet,  and  breeches  of  leather,  and  girded, 
in  a  primitive  manner,  with  his  leathern  girdle,  he  strolled  over 
the  country,  spending  whole  days  in  hollow  trees  and  lonesome 
dells,  and  live-long  nights  in  painful  watchings.*  He  abstained 
from  food  sometimes  for  several  days.t 

"  The  web  of  thought 
Was  shatter 'd  ;  burst  into  a  thousaud  threads. — 
He  loathed  and  sickened  at  the  name  of  knowledge." 

Goet/ie's  Faustus^. 

"  Qui  miser  in  campis  moerens  errabat  aleis, 

Ipse  suum  cor  edens  hominum  vestigia  vitans."         Horn,  by  Cic. 

This  induced  a  disease  :  when  attempts  were  made  to  bleed  him, 
no  blood  could  be  found.  At  another  time  he  was  so  entranced, 
or  carried  out  of  himself,  that  it  was  supposed  that  he  was  dead. 
Out  of  this  trance  he  eltosc  so  altered,  that  his  body  seemed  to  be 
new  moulded.!  He  read  his  bible ;  but  he  had  read  Behmen 
raore.§  According  to  the  doctrine  of  his  master,  the  result  of  this 
mental  agony  was,  that  "  the  spirit  of  darkness  was  chained:" 
"  the  power  of  God  was  over  all :"  "  the  pure  fire  appeared  in 
him."||  The  sensorium  was  so  purified  that  he  could  discern  spirits : 
for  he  too  claimed  this  high  prerogative ;  or,  in  the  words  of  Hu- 
dibras,  he 

*  Jour.  i.  p.  90,  H8. 

t  Sec.  J.  165.  itiSec.  i.  99. 

§  Compare  Taylor's  Platonic  Operation  on  the  Mind  by  the  Catholic 
virtues,  the  fii'st  part  of  Fox's  joui-nal.  Tayl.  ii.  277.  That  the  Pla- 
tonic writings  were  familiar  and  accessible  to  all,  appears  from  these 
facts.  Penn  praises  the  Platonic  studies  of  Keith.  Penn's  Let.  to  Turner. 
See  "  Snake,"  &c.  p.  333.  Behmen's  Avera,  or  Day  Spring,  was  pub- 
lished in  1650;  and  Okely  states,  that  some  of  B.'s  works  had  gone 
through  four  editions  before  /z/«  new  translation. 

!l  Sec.  i.  94. 


68  Jin  historical  Dissertation, 

"  Had  lights  where  other  eyes  were  blind. 
As  pigs  are  said  to  see  the  wind." 

Like  Behraen,  he  carried  his  spirit  of  discerning  into  the  virtues 
of  plants  and  creatures  :*  but  he  played  it  off  to  grander  effect 
on  the  human  heart.  He  discerned  who  were  saints,  who  were 
devils,  or  apostates,  '■'■  without  speaking  aicorfl!."t  He  was  particu- 
larly successful  in  this  line  among  the  fair  and  frail  members  of 
his  audience.  '•  Thou  hast  been  a  harlot,*'  said  this  oracle  to  one : 
"  Thou  hast  an  unclean  spirit,"  said  he  to  another,  with  an  ef- 
frontery which  would  have  appalled  an  Amazon.| 

This  singular  character  began  to  discover,  by  the  most  natural 
train  of  thinking,  that  this  inward  "/re,"  or  "  //g/i/,"  being 
"  Christ,''''  superseded  the  use  of  external  means.  He  went  no 
more  to  the  church,  except  only  to  reprove  priest  and  people  ;  he 
conceived  a  strange  antipathy  to  "  steeple  houses :"  the  sight  of 
them  "  struck  at  his  life'^'§ 

He  was  ushered  into  his  public  ministry  hy  his  precursor 
Brown.  Th'is  precursor  had  "  great  prophecies  and  sights  of  him 
on  his  death  bed."||  It  was  at  the  death  of  this  man  that  Fox  had 
his  greatest  Platonic  purification,  and  his  spirit  of  discerning  per- 
fected. 

He  was  highly  favoured  with  visions:  he  saw  an  angel  of  the 
Lord  standing  with  a  glittering  sword  zIT  he  saw  a  rent  in  the 
earth,  and  smoke  coming  out  of  it.**  By  a  sort  of  second  sight 
he  saw  the  visions  of  vast  multitudes  coming  to  him  in  white 
clothing.  As  he  set  his  missionary  foot  on  the  soil  of  Scotland  he 
"/e/?  the  seed  of  God  to  sparkle  about  him  like  f  re. ^^^t  He  saw  the 
heavens  opened  to  him ;  he  was  caught  up  into  the  paradise  of 
God,  and  heard  the  intimation  made  to  him  that  his  name  was 
in  the  book  of  life.|;j:  How  true  is  the  saying  "  aaar  <a  i  ^ba-if  xaxoc 

iO'Ti  *.at  ^«\«^^o\/Rji    <»!r«VT<j/««-«f  'o^f,(/c  ifU(rt  !"§§ 

•  Sewel,  vol.  i  p.  43,  edit,  of  1811. 

f  Fox  Great  Myst.  p.  89.  Penn  vindicates  his  claims.  See  his  "  Wind- 
ing Sheet,"  sec.  2.  In  this  treatise  Penn  advocates  his  claims  of  infalli- 
bility I 

:$:  Journal,  sec.  i.  p.  220.  There  are  five  instances  recorded  there  Of 
dooms  pronounced  agaist  females  by  this  oracle. 

§Sec.  i.  149.  II  Sec.  i.  99. 

%  Sewel,  vol   ii.  p.  91.  **  Jour.  vol.  i.  180. 

tt  Journal,!.  448.  :|::|:Sec.i.  109,241. 

§§  Aristotle  e  Div.  "  Men  that  arc  of  a  talkative  and  melancholy  tem- 
per see  any  kind  of  visions." 


An  Historical  Disse?'tatioii.  69 

The  system  of  his  doctrine  was  simple.  It  was  built  on  the 
••  Christ  zi'itJunJ''  His  sufferings  were  within :  his  resurrection  was 
within  :  the  rule  and  guide  were  within  :  nay  none  has  a  glory 
and  a  heaven  but  that  which  is  within.* 

In  his  whole  line  of  conduct  he  professed  to  be  guided  by  im- 
pulses from  the  oracle  within ;  these  dictated  the  nature,  the  man- 
ner, the  time  of  his  services.  Moved  by  these,  he  made,  during 
divine  service,  an  irruption  into  the  great  church  at  Nottingham, 
and  roared  out  against  the  doctrines  of  the  preacher  !t  Wherever 
he  travelled,  it  "  was  in  the  motion  of  God's  power."]:  It  was  by 
the  same  "  power"  he  was  prohil)ited  from  taking  off  his  hat,  of 
bowing  or  scraping  to  any  man.  It  dictated  to  him  the  orthodox 
use  of  "thee  and  thou."  This  the  Society  called  the  nexo  tongue, 
with  which  they  spoke  as  the  spirit  gave  them  utterance.^  When  sit- 
ting down  to  eat,  the  spirit  would  say  "  eat  not,^''  and  he  instantly 
©beyed.||  In  one  of  his  apostolical  journeys,  the  spirit  moved 
him  to  go  to  the  top  of  Pendle  hill,  and  forthwith  he  scaled  its 
lofty  cliffs.lF  On  the  summit  of  another  hill  he  was  thrown  into  a 
trance :  in  the  extacy  of  his  visions  he  could  not  contain  himself, 
but  hke  the  young  Ciceronian,  who  pronounced  his  maiden 
?!peech  to  the  cabbages  in  his  mother's  garden,  Fox  poured  forth 
with  all  the  energies  of  inspiration,  "  the  notable  day,''''  to  the. 
winds  and  the  barren  heath.**  He  was  moved,  in  one  of  his 
marches  to  Litchfield,  in  the  middle  of  winter,  to  throw  off  his 
shoes,  and  to  walk  barefooted  through  that  city,  while  he  made  the 
streets  re-echo  with  the  lugubrious  shouts  of  "  wo,  wo,  wo  to  the 
bloody  city  of  Litchfield  P^  When  he  returned  to  his  shoes,  he  felc 

•  See  Fox's  Great  Mystery,  anct.edit.  p.  214.  Snake,  &c.  p.  164. 

fSee  moi-e  specimens  of  this  zeal,  Jewel,  vol.  i.  p.  51,  55,  edit.  1811.—. 
The  Society  has  referred  to  this  zeal  of  Fox  with  evident  appj-obation. 
See  Vind.  of  Quak.  Mosh,  vol.  iv.  9,  edit,  of  1821.  Mr.  Clarkson  has  ven- 
tured to  state,  that  "  /^ojt  disafiprovcd  ofhin  orjyi  conduct^  in  having  in- 
terrupted the  fiublic  service  in  the  church  of  jVottltigham."  Portrait,  vol. 
\.  p.  xi.  But  the  Society  will  not  thank  him  for  this  stretch  of  charity.  Fox 
acted  this  whole  scene  (if  we  may  believe  himself  )  by  an  immediate  reve- 
lation :  as  he  came  v.-ithin  siglit  of  the  church,  "  The  Lard  said  unto  him, 
go  and  cry  agai?ist  yonderidoUand  the  nvor.'ihippers  in  it."  Journal,  vol. 
i.  J).  115.  To  have  disapproved  of  his  own  condu.  t  would  have  been  to, 
condemn  his  inspirations,  and  to  give  up  his  divine  commission  Clarkson 
was  not  aware  of  this.  He  has  ventured  to  teach  before  he  learned  the 
principles  of  the  Society. 

X  Sec.  i.  p.  241.  §  Burroughs'"  works,  fol.p.  srJ,  ed.  1672. 

tjSec.i.17:?,  \  Vol.i.  p.  17.1.  *♦  Sec  i,  p.  36. 


70  *An  Historical  Dissertation, 

the  '■'fire  of  God'''  so  in  his  feet,  and  all  over  him,  that  he  was 
dutifully  constrained  to  wait  for  a  divine  signal  to  put  on  his 
shoes.  After  some  suspense,  with  his  bare  feet  in  the  snow,  the 
oracle  permitted  him  to  put  them  on.* 

He  possessed  invincible  courage :  this  was  bottomed  on  the 
conviction  that  his  Commission  was  equal  to  that  of  the  apostles.t 
He  went  further  :  "  He.  knew  nothing  but  pin-eness  and  innocence  : 
he  u-as  renewed  up  into  the  image  of  God^  and  luid  arrived  into  the. 
state  of  Adam  before  the  falW^X  With  such  a  commission,  and  such 
sinless  perfection,  he  came  forth  to  tell  a  guilty  world  "  that  God 
was  come  hints  elf  to  teach  the  people  :"§  that  all  their  ordinances  and 
sacraments  were  done  away :  and  that  all  must  turn  to  the  pure 
light  in  every  one  of  themselves.  Wherever  he  came,  "  the 
power  of  God  was  over  all.''''  Strangers  bowed  before  him:  priests- 
were  struck  dumb :  great  doctors  melted  away :  "  some  of  them 
ran  and  hid  themselves  under  hedges :"'  it  was  only  necessary  to 
say  that  "  the  man  in  the  leather  breeches  was  come^''  and  the  power 
of  God  fell  on  them.||  His  accusers  went  mad  and  hanged 
themselves.lF 

So  marvellous  were  his  ministrations  in  "  steeple  houses^''  by  way 
©f  episodes  to  the  services,  that  a  great  woman,  as  he  modestly 
tells  us,  took  him,  as  he  slunk  away,  for  "  an  angel,"  or  at  least. 
"  a  spirit.''**  So  dreadful  was  the  power  of  God  accompanying 
his  labours,  that  "  the  people  flew  like  chaff  before  him  into  their 
houses.^'^'t  As  he  prayed  the  people  trembled,  and  the  house  was 
shaken.  He  healed  the  sick — he  cured  the  lame — restored  a  man 
who  had  his  neck  broken — cast  out  spirits.JJ  Distressed  souls,  he 
tells  us,  were  sent  out  of  the  church  by  a  revelation,  to  seek  his 
presence  and  to  receive  from  him  light  and  comfort.§§  And  the 
plague  of  London,  and  the  Dutch  war  came  in  fulfilment  of  a 
Quaker  prophecy,  to  avenge  the  injuries  done  to  that  sect.|||| 

"  Nihil  est,  quod  credere  de  se, 

Non  possit,  quutn  laudatur  dis  xquapotestas."         Juv.  Sat.  iv.  71, 

He  had  his  share  of  vanity:  though  literally  an  ignorant 
man,  he  affected  to  write  letters  to  kings,  and  princes,  and  ma- 

•Vol.  i.  169.  tilll-  ii.p.  104. 

^  Vol.  i.  169.  il  i.  158.  ^  Sec  167. 

♦•  Vol.  i.  152.  tti-P-lS6. 

4t  See  Journal  index,  at  the  word  "  Miracles." 

§§  Vol.  i.  p.  139.  fin  SeweU  vol.  ii.  book  vjii,  p.  148. 


Jin  Historical  Dissertation.  71 

^istrates.  He  dictated  some  to  the  Pope,  to  the  Grand  Turk, 
and  even  to  the  emperor  of  China.*  And  as  a  sovereign  displays 
himself,  from  his  balcon}?-,  to  his  admiring  subjects,  G.  Fox  tells  us^ 
that  at  a  great  meeting, "  he  was  moved  by  the  Lord  to  take  off  his 
hat,  and  to  stand  awhile,  to  let  the  people  look  at  him,  for  some 
thousands  were  there."!  And  to  crown  the  climax,  he  declared, 
that  having  Christ  in  him,  he  was  equal  with  God,  and  was  the 
judge  of  the  world  !\ 

From  A.  D.  1644  to  the  close  of  his  life.  Fox  went  on  to  plant, 
with  a  bold  hand,  the  standard  of  mysticism.  He  soon  found 
associates  armed  with  zeal  equal  to  his  own.  Naylor,  Jarns- 
worth,  Howgill,  Burroughs,  Penn,  and  Whitehead,  are  enrolled 
among  their  first  elders.  These,  with  the  exception  of  Penn, 
were  men  of  the  lowest  education,  and  of  superficial  minds,  but 
of  great  sensibility.  They  had  the  misfortune  to  be  seduced  in 
then*  youth  by  the  doctrines  of  the  mystics,  which  had  hurled 
reason  from  her  throne  in  no  weak  minds.  In  them  it  met  no 
barrier  from  the  scriptures  or  from  science ;  they  shared,  there- 
fore, the  same  fate. 

This  however,  was  no  bar  in  their  way.  Folios  can  be  written 
without  the  aid  of  learning,  and  without  even  the  weight  of  brains, 
or  the  solidity  of  intellect.  And  there  is  a  height  of  eloquence  to 
which  a  mind  labouring  under  a  specific  derangement  can  alone 
ascend.  The  feelings  and  passions  are  lashed  into  fury.  They 
are  titled  with  the  holy  and  much  injured  name  of  inspiration ; 
they  set  reason  and  judgment  at  defiance ;  the  sober  argument  of 
science,  and  the  habit  of  profound  research  would  only  extin- 
guish its  flame.     Their  motto  was  from  the  oracle  : 

"  Cedamus  Phoebo,  et  moniti  meliora  sequamury     Virg. 

§9.  Such  were  these  men.  Believing  themselves  inspired,  and 
armed  with  apostolic  powers,  they  issued  from  their  obscurity 

•  Catal.  of  Quak.  books  quoted  by  the  grand  jury  of  Norfolk,  1699,  and 
Bugg.  Pict.  p,  334. 
.     fVol  i.p.  369. 

+  Fox's  Great  Myst.  p.  282,  248,  and  his  Saul's  Errand  to  Damas.  p. 
8.  Howgill's  works,  A.  D.  16r6  p.  232,  and  Penn,  in  his  Invalidity  of 
Faldo,  admits  Fox's  words,  and  explains  ;  and  this  doctrine  of  equility 
with  God  is  taught  by  Taulerus,  the  mystic,  whom  Bjrclay  applauds — 
(Apol,  p.  S63.)  See  the  Sermons  of  Taulerus,  quoted  by  Brown,  Quaker- 
ism, p,  434,  435,  &c. 


''^  »lw  Histm-ical  Dissertation. 

to  turn  the  v,-oTld  to  righteousness.  They  used  the  language  of 
scripture  with  a  convenient  ambiguity :  Christ  was  the  "  light  with- 
in :"  his  biood  was  within ;  the  spirit  was  the  same ;  the  cross 
was  the  power  of  God  within ;  they  had  an  appearance  of  piety 
to  excess,  a  zeal  that  approached  almost  to  madness ;  an  assur- 
ance to  presumption ;  patience  to  apathy ;  a  perseverance  to  the 
neglect  of  even  self-preservation.* 

They  had  no  difficulty  in  adapting  themselves  to  the  lowest 
class  oi  the  people.  Their  declaration  against  tythes,  was  just  and 
imposing.  They  oflcred  their  followers  liberty  from  church 
power,  from  hireling  priests,  and  from  the  grievous  burden  of 
supporting  the  ministry.  Their  eloquence  was  of  the  most  frantic 
nature ;  to  a  perpetual  and  monotonous  flow  of  verbiage,  they 
united  all  their  peculiarity  of  gestures ;  they  shook  the  head ; 
they  nodded  ;  they  shrugged  the  shoulders  ;  their  brawny  arms 
dangled  by  their  sides,  or  assumed  the  mort  threatening  pos- 
tures ;  their  frames  shook  ;  their  mouths  foamed ;  then  with  deep 
intonations,  ushered  forth  by  a  singular  quavering,  they  "  jcould 
bellow  as  they'd  hurst  the  ]iccnni.cJ''"\  Then  their  looks  wild  and 
haggard,^  from  toils  and  fastings,  and  cruel  sufferings  from  an 
Anirightcous  magistracy,  added  fearfully  to  the  effect,  and  made 
;)wful  imjircssions  on  the  su}";erstitious  and  young.     They 

*'  Denounced  and  prayed  with  fierce  devotion;' — 

•'  Stole  from  the  mystics  all  their  tones, 

*•  And  gifted  mortiSed  groans: — 

"Made  children  with  their  tones  to  run  for't  j 

"As  bad  as  bloody  bones,  and  Lunford  !" 

HuDIBRAS. 

The  natural  disposition  of  these  men  had,  at  first,  urged  them 
«n  to  attempt  their  innovations;  but  their  energies  were  called 
forth,  and  their  zeal  excited  to  an  amazing  degree,  by  the  visible 
impressions  which  they  had  made  on  the  illiterate  multitude : 
and  as  much  by  the  hosannahs  with  which  their  disciples  cheered 
them  in  their  singular  career.§     Thoy  struggled,  they  suffered, 

»  See  Journal,  vol.  i.  Passion. 

f  See  the  petition  of  the  county  of  Lancaster,  (E.)  in  Leslie's  Snake, 
&c.  sec.  3. 

i  Fox's  Jour.  i.  502. 

§  ''  O  !  blessed  be  the  day  in  which  thou  wast  born" — "  O  !  dear  heart, 
go  on  conquering  and  to  conquer,"  &c.  See  Sew.  vol.  ii.  book  viii.  p.  104. 


A71  Histm'ical  Dissertation.  73 

they  wrote,  they  published,  and  industriously  scattered  about 
every  item  of  their  inspirations. 

§  10.  Their  success  in  England  and  in  Ireland,  was  considera- 
ble. Fanaticism  had  poured  out  her  intoxicating  influence  on 
the  multitude.  The  tyranny  of  a  bloody  hierarchy  was  continu- 
ing to  drive  men  from  her  protecjion.  Error  and  hcresj^  are 
often  more  zealous  and  active  than  truth.  They  seized  with 
avidity  on  the  opportunities  presented  to  them  of  joining  the 
wandering  multitude  into  their  folds  ;  they  affected  more  conver- 
sions to  Quakerism  by  the  distribution  of  their  books,  than  ]:)y 
their  declamations  ;  to  this  object  they  devoted  extensive  funds. 
When  the  society  was  organized,  the  respective  meetings  were 
laid  under  heavy  contributions.  Out  of  these  a  fund  was  form- 
ed to  defray  the  expense  of  printing  and  pul^lishing  the  works 
of  their  authors.  Every  facility  was  thus  otlered  to  those  who 
chose  to  enter  the  lists.  This,  as  might  justly  be  expected,  call- 
ed forth  hosts  of  writers.  The  expenses  were  promptly  met : 
and  effectual  means  were  taken  to  distribute  their  works  with- 
out trouble  on  the  part  of  the  authors.  The  quantity  of  Quaker 
books,  bj^  this  means,  poured  from  the  press,  is  almost  incredi- 
ble. Whitine's  catalogue  of  their  books  alone,  consists  of  two 
hundred  and  thirty-two  pages.  It  contains  a  list  of  three  thou- 
sand six  hundred  and  eleven  books.  Upwards  of  six  hundred 
other  volumes  were  added  ;  making  4269  volumes.  Each  im- 
pression of  these  contained  al)out  a  thousand  copies  on  an  aver- 
age. Thus  the  society,  previous  to  A.  D.  1715,  had  sent  forth 
four  million  two  hundred  and  sixty-nine  thousand  volumes  and 
tracts.*  From  the  same  funds  they  have  kept  Barclay'  afloat. 
They  published  an  edition  of  twelve  thousand;  of  these,  ten 
thousand  copies  were  distributed  gratis.  They  had  their  book- 
sellers in  London  who  were  actively  engaged  in  selling  and  dis- 
tributing their  works.  In  the  country*,  men  were  employed  tf» 
carry  them  on  pack  horses,  in  all  directions;  and  they  have 
been  known  to  scatter  their  books  and  tracts  along  the  highways 
and  in  the  streets.! 


*  Bugg's  Pict-  of  Quak.  part  5,  p  101- 
t  Do.  p.  103. 


74  An  Historical  Dissertation. 

§  11.  But  of  all  the  causes  which  operated  in  favour  of  this 
Society,  persecution  was,  perhaps,  the  most  efficient.  Man, 
prompted  b}'  his  feehngs,  will  always  take  the  part  of  the  op- 
pressed :  and  if  the  oppressed  manifest  the  courage  of  a  man 
under  Jiis  suiTerings,  and  the  forgiving  spirit  of  a  christian,  let 
his  cause  be  bad  or  good,  the  people  will  always  laud  his  cause 
and  bless  the  martyr.  Persecution  will  make  the  most  ordinary 
character  become  popular.  It  is  true  of  every  sectarian,  and  of 
every  society,  that  the  blood  of  their  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  their 
church.  Had  the  Welch  let  Fox  talk  his  day,  and  then  peace- 
ably take  himself  away,  their  churches  had  not  heard  his  name. 
But  his  imprisonment,  and  subsequent  sufferings  in  Cornwall, 
spread  his  name,  and  Quakerism,  in  that  region  widely.*  The 
Saxons  managed  things  better:  the  severest  stroke  that  fell  on 
their  fanatic  Bohmen,  was  (he  sentence  of  the  electoral  prince, 
and  the  learned  divines  at  Dresden,  who  dismissed  him  with 
these  words :  "  We  cannot  condemn  thee,  because  we  cannot  mi- 
derstand  </(ee."t 

Why  has  England  been  so  slow  in  listening  to  reason,  to  the 
comrnon  feelings  of  hunianit}',  and  to  the  mild  religion  of  Jesus, 
w^hich  breathes  the  spirit  of  liberty  to  the  conscience  ?  Her  dis- 
tinjjuished  divines  and  civilians  had  been  long  raising  their  en- 
treatnig  voice ;  they  had  made  the  most  feeling  appeals  to  her 
misguided  government;  they  had  implored  her,  but  in  vain,  to 
arrest,  or  at  least  to  soften  down  (he  fiery  peiserutions  of  such 
priests  as  Bancroft,  and  Laud,  and  Sheldon— men  who  had 
stained  the  mitre  with  the  best  blood  of  the  nation.  Her  W^elch 
divine,  Roger  Williams,  had  ably  advocated  the  doctrine  of  to- 
leration to  all  sects.  Her  learned  Owen  had  once  and  again, 
amid  the  ragings  of  the  most  unnatural  persecutions,  presented 
his  appeals  in  behalf  of  toleration  and  indulgence.  Her  illus- 
trious Milton  had  followed  him  whh  luminous  arguments.  Her 
bishop  Taylor,  and  her  Locke,  had  brought  all  the  weight  of 
piety  and  talent  into  the  field.  Yet  Williams,  and  the  Baltimores, 
and  Pcnn,  were  the  first  who  could  carry  the  thing  into  effect- 
but  it  was  on  the  shores  of  America  '.J 

*  Goueh's  Hist.  p.  217.  Neal's  Hist,  vol.iv.  p.  306.  Bost.  edit. 

t  Memoirs  of  Behinen,  bv  Okely.  Edit,  of  &.  D.  1780. 

\  Gibbon,  with  an  iiisiduous  sneer,  remarks,  "  I  am  sorry  to  observe 


•In  Historical  Dissertation,  75 

Had  the  English  magistracy  taken  Fox,  and  entreated  him 
kindly ;  had  they  sent  him  home,  fed  and  clothed,  to  his  troubled 
relatives,  (for  he  had  not,  like  the  Arabian  impostor,  taken  care 
to  convert  his  relations  first,)  and  had  the  wits  attacked  his  mot- 
ley system  with  the  couplets  of  Hudibras,  they  had  dispersed  hi? 
followers ;  and,  perhaps,  have  spared  the  church  of  God  the  ex- 
istence of  modern  mysticism! 

§  12.  The  reception  of  Fox  in  Scotland  was  very  different: 
though  he  left  England  with  a  prophecy,  and  set  his  foot  on 
Scottish  ground  with  a  marvellous  vision  of  the  seed  of  God 
sparkling  about  him*  which  betokened  countless  hosts  flocking  to 
his  standard  there,  he  failed  almost  totally  in  the  object  of  his 
pilgrimage. 

This  was  owing  to  the  genius  and  habits  of  that  people.  The 
author  of"  Modern  Europe,"  like!  many  other  theorists,  who  the- 
orise, and  prejudge,  instead  of  collecting  facts  and  reasoning 
from  them,  has  formed  a  very  erroneous  view  of  the  religious 
character  of  the  Scottish  nation.  The  Presbytery  has  not,  as  he 
supposes,  breathed  a  gloomy  and  fanatical  spirit  among  them. 
That  people   has  ever  been  characterized  by  a  bold   and  un- 

that  the  three  writers  by  whoni  tlie  rights  of  tolfrat:o?i"---{X.o  have  writ- 
ten intelligibly  he  should  have  %a\(\  conaciince ) have  been  so  nobly  de- 
fended, Bayle,  Leibnitz,  and  Locke,  are  all  laymen.^'  Dec.  and  Fall  of 
Rome,  vii.  ch.o4.  ad  tin.  Note.  Mr.  Williams  tirst  led  the  way,  in  A.  D. 
1643  or  1644.  with  his  book.  The  Bloody  Ttnant,  or  a  Dialogue  between 
Truth  and  Peace.  In  this  book  his  strong  mind  urges  those  arguments 
which,  at  the  distance  of  tifty  years,  the  great  Locke  ])ursued  with  great- 
er energy  and  success.  See  N'erplank's  Histor.  Disc,  delivered  before  the 
New  York  Histor.  Soc.  1818,  and  the  Aualectic  Magaz.  Feb.  1819,  p. 
142.  Wilhams  reduced  to  practice  his  theory  in  Rliode  Island,  when  the 
Quakers  disturbed  his  peaceful  province.  Though  he  had  the  power,  he 
attacked  them  only  by  his  invectives,  syllog-lsms,  &nd  fians.  He  wrote  a 
book  against  Fox  and  Burroughs,  which  he  named  The  Fox  digged  out 
of  his  Burrows.  Dr.  Owen's  tirst /'/ea  appeared  in  A.  D.  1647;  Mil- 
ton's in  A.  D.  1658  ;  then  liishop  Jeremy  Taylor;  Penn,  in  A.  D.  1681; 
and  Fenelon,  and  then  Locke,  in  A.  D.  1689.  See  Dr.  Owen's  Tvjo  Pleas 
for  Indulgence  arid  Toleration,  and  Neal's  Hist.  Purit.  vol.  iv.  309,  310. 
Best.  edit,  of  18ir.  Bayle  began  to  publish  liis  works  in  A.  D  1611,  after 
he  had  accepted  a  professor's  chair  at  Rotterdam.  For  Leibnitz,  he 
was  an  infant,  *'  mevjling  and  finking  in  his  nurse's  arms,"  when  the  im- 
mortal Owen  published  his  tirst  Plea.  Leibnitz  was  born  A.  D  1646.-— 
These  Independent  Clergymen,  were  unquestionably  the  first  teachers  of 
religious  liberty.  See  Orme's  Memoirs  of  Dr.  Owen.  Lend  1820,  p.  99 
Sec    Edinb.  Review,  No.  71,  p.  229. 

•  Jour.  vol.  i,  p.  448.  f  Vol.  iii.  p.  196 


76  *l)i  Historical  Dissertation. 

daunted  spirit  in  religion,  as  well  as  in  politics.  The  Scottish 
mind  in  its  texture,  naturally  firm  and  independent,  fierce  and  im- 
patient of  control ;  and,  moreover,  trained  up  under  a  discipline 
far  from  being  indulgent,  but  on  thecontrary  severe,  and  even  ri- 
gorous, as  well  in  the  domestic  as  in  the  public  application  of  it, 
has  been  gradually  brought  into  this  national  habit  under  various 
causes.  There  are  two  which  seem  to  have  exerted  no  small  in- 
fluence over  this  natural  firmness  aiKl  independence  in  religion. 
First — Before  the  accession  of  James  VI.  to  the  English  throne, 
the  feudal  aristocratical  sy^^tem  had  been  in  great  force ;  the  vas- 
sals of  the  two  rival  parties  (the  king  and  the  nobles)  were  much'' 
caressed  by  their  respective  feudal  lords,  in  order  to  secure  and 
strengthen  their  attachment.  This  made  the  vassals  who  were  in 
fact  the  body  of  the  people,  feel  their  weight  and  importance. 
Second — The  ministers,  and  the  laymen,  in  the  character  of  el- 
ders, meet  in  the  assemblies  for  government  on  the  same  floor, 
on  a  footing  of  the  most  perfect  equality.  This  equality  rouses 
the  mind  to  vigorous  exertion :  it  creates  a  boldness  of  inquiry, 
and  energy  in  deciding  on  matters  of  the  greatest  importance ; 
and  in  proportion  as  a  nation  is  enlightened,  the  spirit  of  inquiry  ia 
religion,  even  more  than  in  politics,  will  show  hself  impatient  of 
restraint  from  the  highest  human  influence. 

Nor  should  I  omit  the  influence  on  the  public  mind  of  that  un- 
questionable right  of  every  free  christian  man  to  have  a  voice  in 
the  choice  of  his  spii-itual  guide.  This,  perhaps,  as  much  as  any 
other,  keeps  up  the  high  tone  of  the  people's  independence  and 
firmness  in  religious  matters \  and  in  times  to  which  I  refer,  the 
Scottish  Presbyterians  exercised  that  right.  The  act  of  A.  D. 
nil  had  not  paralyzed  the  people's  energies,  nor  had  the  act  of 
A.  D.  1784  completed  the  mischief.* 

This  cfjuality  of  Presbytery  has  difl'used  this  spirit  among  all 
ranks  in  that  country  ;  and  the  manner  in  which  the  pastor's  du- 
ties are  discharged  iiecessaril}'  keeps  up  the  excitement.     The 


•  It  is  vather  a  singular  fact,  tli-kt  tlic  Cienoral  Assembl}'  of  tlie  Church 
of  Scotland,  from  the  year  1711  to  17^4,  professed  to  consider  the  law  of 
patronage  a  grievance.  Hence  tliey  gave  annually  their  instructions  to 
their  comiuissian  to  seek  every  op;iortnnity  of  getting  that  law  abolished 
hv  parliament ;  but  in  A.  D.  1784  they  gave  this  up,  and  tamely  submit- 
ted, and  wish  -d  "  rio  innovations  in  settling'  vacant  churches." 


An  Historical  Ihissertation,  77 

parish  minister  docs  not  stand  at  that  awful  distance  i*rom  his 
flock  which  is  constantly  witnessed  in  the  hierarchy.  He  visits 
every  family :  he  exhorts  and  prays  with  his  humblest  cottagers : 
he  carries  home  his  instructions  in  this  manner  to  their  fire  sides. 
They  reason,  they  jud,£^e,  they  decide  for  themselves :  and  such 
is  the  genius  of  that  metaphysical  and  daring  people,  that  having 
once  made  their  decision,  no  earthly  power—or  to  use  a  proverb 
which  originated  in  the  days  to  which  I  allude—"  neither  the 
de'il  nor  Clavcrhouse*'  could  shake  them  from  their  purpose. 

Hence  from  an  earlj^  period  they  have  been  a  sober  and  grave 
people.  Their  firmness  in  religion  displays  not  the  stubbornness 
of  the  bigot,  but  the  energy  of  the  soul  that  has  examined  and 
decided  for  itself.  Their  reserve  and  gravity  is  not  the  gloom  of 
the  fanatic ;  it  is  the  habit  of  a  mind  addicted  to  anxious  reflec- 
tion and  daily  devotion.  The  Scottish  population,  with  all  their 
faults,  are  equally  removed  from  the  gloom  of  the  fanatic  and  the 
madness  of  the  enthusiast,  as  they  are  from  the  frigid  indiflfer- 
ence,  "  the  fat  contented  ignorance"  of  the  uneducated  popula- 
tion of  England,  which  frames  its  creed,  too  often,  to  the  views  of 
the  present  incumbent,  who  comes  without  their  call,  and  who 
goes  without  their  regrets! 

Such  is  a  rude  outline  of  the  religious  character  of  the  Scottish 
nation,  during  the  religious  phrcnzy  in  the  commonwealth  of 
England.  Bishop  Burnet  has  given  a  fair  picture  of  it.  The  old 
Scotch  ministry,  before  the  Restoration,  says  the  good  bishop, 
were  a  brave  and  solemn  people ;  their  spirits  were  eager,  their 
tempers  soured  by  universal  suli'erings;  but  their  appearance 
created  respect.  They  visited  their  parishes  much ;  they  were 
full  of  the  scriptures ;  they  could  speak  extempore  on  any  doc- 
trine, and  with  fluency  :  they  were  ready  at  prayer ;  it  was  the 
custom  of  the  people,  after  dinner  and  supper,  to  read  the  scrip- 
tures, and  the  minister,  when  present,  would  expound  them  to 
the  family.  By  this  means,  such  a  degree  of  knowledge  and 
piety  was  diffused  among  the  people,  that  the  poor  cottagers 
could  pray  extempore,  and  discourse  with  accuracy  on  the  lead- 
ing doctrines  of  the  gospel.* 

^Vhen  these  ministers  were  driven  from  their  churches,  at  the 

*  Burnet's  Ilist.  of  his  own  Times,  p.  84,  226,  Edinb.  edit. 


78  An  Historical  Dissertation. 

Restoration,  they  were  succeeded  by  bishops  and  priests. 
"  These,"  says  the  bishop,  "  were  ignorant  tea  reproach,  and 
openly  vicious."*  The  principal  nobility  and  the  priests  were  the 
creatures  of  the  court  and  of  Charles  II.  Through  these  fit  chan- 
nels the  court  poured  its  pestilential  influence  over  the  unhappy 
land.  Ignorance  and  impiety,  and  boisterous  profligacy,  spread 
their  desolations  among  the  higher  circles.  Nor  did  they  confine 
their  desolating  ravages  to  these :  they  swept  before  them  the 
great  mass  of  the  population.! 

National  crimes  are  like  raging  torrents :  when  they  burst 
the  barriers  they  sweep  all  before  them,  with  a  fury  encreased 
by  the  very  means  of  their  restraint.  The  Presbj^tcrians  and 
Independents,  under  that  religious  spirit,  by  which  the  public 
mind  had  received  such  an  impulse  in  that  age,  had  manifested 
a  laudable  zeal  for  the  prosperity  of  the  church  of  God.  Much 
impressed  with  religious  matters,  much  exercised  in  secret  devo- 
tions, they  did  not  shake  off  the  deep  formed  habits  and  temper 
of  their  minds;  they  brought  these  forth,  in  a  most  natural  man- 
ner, into  active  life.  Their  common  conversation,  their  political 
measures,  their  every  employment,  bewrayed  often  unconsci- 
ously, minds  deeply  engaged  in  religious  matters  ;  the  affairs  of 
the  church  were  deemed,  to  say  the  least,  fully  as  important  as 
those  of  the  state.  Reformation  in  the  former  was  of  equal  im- 
portance at  least  with  that  of  the  latter;  hence  among  these 
christian  patriots  the  news  of  the  day  had  yielded  to  religious  in- 
telligence, or  theological  discussion.  The  retailing  of  family  se- 
crets and  scandal  was  displaced  by  statements  of  cases  of  con- 
science and  christian  experience ;  riot  and  mirth  had  been  dis- 
placed by  social  meetings  and  prayer:  the  music  that  lent  its 
charms  to  a  pitiful  ballad,  or  an  indecorous  song,  had  yielded  to 
the  rustic  notes  of  psalmody  flowing  warm  from  the  heart.  The 
field,  the  desert,  the  street,  rung  morning  and  evening  with  these 
wild  unmeasured  notes.  They  were  above  criticism  ;  for  on 
them  floated  the  praises  of  Almight}'^  God,  from  the  bosoms  of  a 
simple  and  pious  people.  Every  thing  earthly  has  its  drawback. 
These  good  men  were  not  without  their  blemishes,  and  many 

•  Burnet's  Hist,  of  his  own  Times,  p.  229.     Ncal's  Hist,  of  the  Purlt 
vol.  iv.  p.  383.  Bost.  edit. 

t  Cook's  Hist,  of  the  Church  of  Sr.otlanc],  vol.  jii.  r,h.  22. 


•2n  Historical  Dissertation.  79 

had  mingled  with  them  wlio  yielded  to  the  ungovernable  spirit 
of  enthusiasm  ;  these  too  often  formed  a  strange  nntedley  of  things 
earthly  and  thhigs  spiritual.  They  often  made  sudden  and  rude 
translations  from  earthly  things  to  religion;  and  from  religion  to 
trifles.  They  carried  on  their  profane  lips  the  most  sacred  things 
into  common  conversation.  They  used  indecent  freetiom  in  their 
conversational  prayers  to  the  Almighty;  they  renounced  the 
common  names  of  ancestry,  and  with  ridiculous  gravity  assumed 
names  appropriated  to  the  saints  and  the  elect;  and  as  the -no- 
bility blazon  a  sentence  on  the  scroll  of  their  arms,  they  adopted 
occasionally  a  whole  text,  or  the  member  of  a  text,  for  a  sur- 
name. Their  disgusting  cant  rung  eternally  on  the  ears  of  men 
in  the  house,  in  the  field,  in  the  conventicle,  and  in  the  camp. 

Charles  II,  and  his  licentious  courtiers  identified  religion  with 
these  men  men  and  their  measures.  Unable,  or  unwilling  to  dis- 
tinguish the  hypocrite  from  the  pious,  accustomed  to  associate  in 
their  minds  the  profanity  and  irreligion  of  the  cavalier  with  his 
loyalty,  they  hated  religion,  and  the  very  name  of  religion,  be- 
cause it  was  so  much  on  the  lips  of  those  who  had  put  them 
down.*  Of  course  when  Charles  II,  and  his  creatures  gained  the 
ascendancy,  their  zeal  burned  with  equal  fury  against  religion  as 
against  the  treason  of  their  enemies.  To  scoff  at  religion,  to  bur- 
lesque the  most  sacred  truths,  to  become  slaves  to  vice ;  and  not 
only  to  palliate,  but  to  glory  in  crime,  soon  became  the  prominent 
feature  in  the  maimers  of  that  age.  Impiety  and  profligacy  be- 
came identified  with  loyalty ;  to  be  vicious  was  to  be  in  the  path 
of  honours  and  offices.  On  the  contrary,  a  devout  life,  an 
abhorrence  of  crime,  brought  honest  men  to  death  on  the 
gibbet,  or  by  the  steel  of  the  life  guards.  And  in  military 
rencontres,  and  in  the  mock  trials  before  a  military  jury,  or 
before  the  council,  there  was  no  surer  way  for  the  victim  to 
escape  the  fangs  of  the  military  assassins,  the  Grahams,  the  Dal- 
ziels,  the  Yorks  of  that  day,  than  to  make  proof  by  imprecations 
and  riotings,  that  he  was  no  psalm-singrr,  nor  a  covenanter,  nor 
even  a  christian— but  only  a  very  wicked  man!  The  boAvels  of 
the  inquisitors  Avere  moved  marvellously  in  them  at  the  well 
known  voice  of  brotherhood  and  loyalty. 

*  See  the  interesting  "  Memoirs  of  Col.  Hutchinson,"  by  his  accom- 
plifchtd  Lady,  p.  358.  4to. 


80  *3w  Historical  Dissertation, 

In  this  deplorable  state  of  religion  and  morals  there  was  an  il- 
lustrious band  of  christian  patriots,  neither  small  in  numbers  nor 
of  little  influence,  who  presented  a  bold  front  against  invading  er- 
ror and  profligacy.  Among  these  the  persecuted  ministers  lurked, 
and  held  their  assemblies  by  stealth  on  the  moors  or  in  the  mo- 
rasses. These  martyrs  kept  alive  the  spark  of  vital  religion,  and 
truth,  and  liberty  in  that  degenerate  age.  Their  influence  was 
secret,  but  extensive ;  their  ardour  inspired  their  followers  with 
a  noble  ^nthusia^m  in  the  cause  of  truth  ;  they  were  prepared  to 
defend  the  holy  cause  of  religion  and  their  lives,  equally  by  the 
force  of  argument  and  by  the  edge  of  the  sword ;  and  they  ac- 
tually did  so.* 

Through  the  storm  of  persecution,  which  raged  for  twenty  and 
eight  years,!  these  christian  patriots  maintained  their  righteous 
cause  with  various  success.  By  an  overwhelming  power  they 
were  at  last  liroken  down,  and  driven  to  the  wilds  and  fastnesses 
of  their  rugged  country.  Even  thither  the  tyrant's  vengeance 
pursued  them  :  he  turned  loose  on  them  a  brutal  soldiery ;  urged 
on  by  such  ferocious  assassins  as  Graham  of  Claverhouse,  and 
Dalziel,  i\\cy  swept  the  land  like  the  pestilential  blast  of  the  de- 
sert, breathing  out  death  and  destruction :  they  spared  neither 
men,  women,  nor  children ;  they  employed,  in  some  instance?, 
the  sagacity  of  the  blood-hounds  to  discover  their  retreats,  and 
hunt  them  dowii.|  At  last  the  Almighty  looked  upon  their  sor- 
rows, and  pitied  their  agonies.  lie  roused  the  sleeping  energies 
of  their  country ;  he  hurled  the  Stewarts  from  the  throne  of 
their  fathers,  and  their  bloody  oppressors  in  the  dust.  He  put 
the  reins  of  government  into  hands  which  conferred  a  portion, 
at  least,  of  her  rights  on  bleeding  Scotland. 

In  the  days  of  the  national  settlement,  justice  was  not  render- 
ed to  these  brave  and  pious  men,  who,  with  nil  their  failings, 
(and  they  were  not  great.)  harl  secured  to  their  country  all  th'- 
civil  and  religious  liberty  which  she  cnjojs.^  That  country  has 

♦Wodrow's  Church  Hist,  and  Cruikshank's  Hist,  of  that  period; 
Cook's  Hist,  of  the  Kirk  of  Srotland,  vol.  iii.  ch.  -24,  &c.  See  Hume'.s 
Hist,  vol  iii.  ch.  40,  p.  58.  Ed.  of  A.  D.  1822.  and  Quart.  Review,  No. 
25,  on  Charles  I.  Char. 

t  From  the  Restoration  of  Charles  H.  A.  D.  1660,  to  the  Revolution, 
A.  n   1688. 

t  T^aing's  Hist,  of  Scotland,  vol.  ii. 

§  Edinb.  Rev.  No.  54,  p.  258. 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  91 

not  paid  yet  the  debt  of  gratitude ;  that  country  has  not  protect- 
ed their  memory  from  insult;  she  permits,  without  a  burst  of 
public  indignation,  the  infidel  historian  to  follow  the  partial  and 
absurd  details  of  those  royalists  who  confounded  the  virtuous 
struggles  of  a  people  to  regain  their  liberties  with  the  crime  of 
treason.  She  permits  him  to  confound  virtue  and  vice ;  to  asperse 
.the  memory  of  her  best  patriots ;  to  laud  the  name  of  the  atro- 
cious Clavers  !* 

The  poet  and  the  novelist  have  lent  their  bewitching  aid  in 
the  work  of  slander.  At  one  time  they  laud,  with  mawkish  sen- 
timentalism,  the  piety  of  English  inquisitors  and  Scottish  bishops, 
whose  hands  were  dipt  in  human  blood  to  the  wrists.  At  ano- 
ther time  they  Avorship,  in  sublime  style,  and  hardly  without 
tears,  the  gallant  deeds  of  the  muscovegran. savage  Dalziel,  and 
the  vandal  Clavers,  who  butchered,  in  cold  blood,  the  father  and 
son ;  the  mother  and  infant,  and  blooming  maid !  who  shot  down, 
as  the  deer  of  the  forest,  free  born  citizens,  without  a  trial,  on 
their  own  land,  and  at  their  own  fire  sides  ! — At  one  time  we  see 
them  throwing  themselves  into  theatrical  attitudes  at  the  ficti- 
tious rusticity  and  ferocious  habits  of  the  men  of  the  conventi- 
cles. At  other  times  with  imperturbable  impudence  they  dis- 
turb the -awful  repose  of  the  sainted  martyrs,  and  drag  them 
from  their  bed  of  glory  to  hold  them  up,  in  the  rusticity  and  fa- 
naticism Avhich  they  have  made  to  clothe  them,  to  the  laugh  of 
the  vulgar,  and  the  scoft'  of  the  profane.t  The  hierarchy,  gall- 
ed at  the  victory  gained  over  its  tyrannical  and  bloody  purpose, 
to  dragoon  a  nation  into  its  religion  and  ceremonies,  has  imp©- 

•  See  Hume's  well  known  partial  history  of  this  period,  vol.  iv.  chap. 
66,  67,  Sec. 

f  The  inimitable  beauties  of  "  Old  Mortality,"  can  never  atone  to  the 
church  for  that  studied  concealment  of  much  of  the  character  of  the 
bloody  Graham,  which  the  mind  cannot  contemplate  in  real  history,  with- 
out deep  oppression  ;  for  that  generosity  and  heroism  with  which  her 
deadliest  enemy  is  invested;  (Edinburgh  Review,  No.  54,  p.  259.)  for  the 
studied  concealment  of  cool-blooded  personal  murders  ;  for  that  outrage 
offered  to  sacred  doctrines  and  worthy  ministers,  by  the  fictitious  preach- 
ments put  into  the  lips  of  its  orators  and  conventicle  men  ;  and  for  its 
slanderous,  or  tn  say  the  least,  thrughtless  charges  of  murder  brought 
against  good  men.  Nothing  can  be  more  outrageous  to  historical  fact, 
than  the  fictitious  death  of  cornet  Graham  at  Diumclog,  or  that  horri- 
ble fiction  of  intended  murder  on  the  evening  of  the  battle  of  Bothweli 
Bridge. 

14 


82  »in  Histoincal  Dissertation, 

tentlj  and  ungenerously  branded  their  virtuous  struggle  with  the 
opprobrious  name  of  the  "■grand  rebellion."  Nay,  they  have 
been  wounded  by  their  degenerate  sons.  "  Tu  quoque  mifhy 
Brute."  Nijri  contented  with  that  outrageous  length  of  Erastian- 
ism  into  which  they  have  gone ;  a  moderate  share  of  which  we 
Americans  could  have  forgiven  to  men  in  their  circumstances  -, 
not  content  with  their  unblushing  testimony  of  perfect  iuditfer- 
ence  to  the  form  of  church  government,  while  they  cling  to  the 
civil  establishment,  which  damns  all  other  but  its  own ;  not  con- 
tented with  telling  us  Americans  that  the  presbytery  of  Scotland 
was  the  mere  effect  of  fortuitous  circumstances,*  they  have  dared 
to  violate  the  sacred  mej^ory  of  our  martyrs ;  for  we  two  are 
Presbyterians  :  anci  to  represent  the  calm  and  christian  peace  of 
their  last  moments  as  the  effects  of  enthusiasm.!  But  let  shame 
cover  the  face  of  that  man  who  yields  the  honour  of  his  native 
country  to  the  popular  sentiment  of  a  foreign  kingdom  :  and  who 
is  so  cowardly,  or  so  venal  as  to  court  popularity  by  surrender- 
ing the  glory  of  his  native  patriots  to  the  form  of  the  hierarchy ; 
to  the  sneer  of  profligates,  or  to  the  ridicule  of  the  infidel  mob ! 
My  martyred  ancestors !  I  feel  more  pride  in  the  deeds  of  your 
prowess  in  the  ranks  of  those  patriotic  christians  who  contended 
by  the  pen  and  the  sword,  for  the  illustrious  prize  of  religion  and 
liberty,  than  if  you  had  worn  the  fairest  coronet  in  the  ranks  of 
the  licensed  oppressors  of  their  country  and  of  the  church! 

§  13.  It  was  during  the  excitement  of  this  period,  and  among 
people  strongly  marked  by  this  character,  that  the  early  Qua- 
kers fell  in  their  first  missionary  tours  into  Scotland.  They 
found  the  tempers  of  the  people  soured,  but  not  gloomy.  They 
found  them  enthusiastically  attached  to  that  system  of  truth 
which  their  fathers  had  delivered  to  them,  and  sealed  with  their 
blood.  But  they  soon  discovered  that  they  were  not  fanatics. 
The  sacred  scriptures  they  invariably  and  most  scrupulously 
made  the  rule  of  their  faith,  and  of  their  severe  morals.  Though 
firm  believers  in  the  holy  and  constant  interpositions  of  Provi- 

*  See  Cook's  History  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotlaiul  from  the  PLstablishment 
of  the  Reformation  to  the  Revolutioii,  vol.  iii.  cliap.  22,  ad  fin.  Edin.  Edit. 

t  See  this  display  of  modern  bigotry  in  the  remarks  on  the  character 
and  writings  of  that  illustrious  martvr  James  Guthrie.  Cook.  do.  vol. 
ii:.  ch.  22.  p.  240,  241. 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  83 

•dence,  they  were  avowed  and  implacable  enemies  to  the  doctrines 
of  the  new  revelations  and  impulses,  which  ihe  Quakers  brought. 
Hence  they  opposed  a  firm  phalanx  of  reason  and  piety  to 
George  Fox's  innovations.  In  the  city  of  Glasgow  he  could  not 
prevail  "  on  even  one  of  the  toicn  to  come  to  his  meeting.'''* 

The  fact  is,  the  higher  circles,  and  the  populace  despised  them  -, 
and  the  middling  and  lower  classes  of  the  community  were  too 
well  informed,  and  had  their  minds  too  intensely  fixed  on  the 
religious  scenes  before  their  eyes,  to  be  seduced  by  such  weak 
and  ill-informed  missionaries. 

§  14.  That  country  Avas  afterwards  assailed  from  another 
quarter,  and  by  a  very  different  character.  Though  the  Scot- 
tish nation  never  gave  countenance  to  the  principles  of  the 
Friends,  it  has,  nevertheless,  given  the  European  and  the  Ame- 
rican Quakers  their  best  and  most  accomplished  writer.  This 
was  Robert  Barclay.  Colonel  Barclay,  his  father,  a  most  ami- 
able and  }X)lished  gentleman,  had,  when  abroad,  imbibed  the 
doctrines  of  the  new  sect.t  He  instilled  them,  with  much  zeal, 
into  the  youthful  mind  of  his  son,  whom  he  had  recalled  from  the 
Scottish  college  of  Paris.  R.  Barclay  possessed  superior  talents, 
and  a  good  education  for  that  age  -,  but  he  had  certainly  been 
tainted  by  the  Catholic  doctrines,  under  the  influence  of  his  un- 
cle of  the  Scots  college]:. 

'  Barclay  had  no  disposition  to  imitate  the  leaders  of  the  So- 
ciety, nor  would  the  genius  of  his  nation  have  permitted  him. 
While  Fox  and  Penn  came  forward  with  all  the  naked  deformi- 
ties of  mysticism,  Barclay  presented  himself  as  an  apologist.  He 
appeared  mild,  candid,  learned :  he  anxiously  kept  out  of  vie;w 
those  parts  of  the  system  which  would  shock  the  pious,  and  lay 
them  open  to  the  successful  attacks  of  the  learned.  He  touched 
not  on  their  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  nor  on  the  proper  divinity  of 
Christ,  nor  on  the  true  idea  of  the  Atonement.  He  passed  lightly 
on  all  their  peculiarities  which  will  not  bear  a  strict  scrutiny ; 


•  Jour.  vi.  i.  442. 

f  It  is  certain,  however,  that  he  was  fully  initiated  into  its  mysteries  da- 
ring his  imprisonment  in  Edinburgh,  by  a  fellow  prisoner  who  had  im- 
ported them  from  England.  See  Barclay's  Life.  duod.  p.  10,  11. 

t  Bar.  Life,  p.  18.  He  admits  this. 


84  ,|.;^  Historical  Dissertation. 

he  selected  those  that  bear  a  near  resemblance  to  truth,  and 
which,  by  an  imposing  air  of  benevolence  and  utility,  prefei 
strong  claims  on  the  feelings  of  mankind.  He  made  a  dexterous 
use  of  the  increasing  attachment  to  Arminianism  among  some  of 
the  learned,  and  gave  a  powerful  bias  of  his  mystic  system  to  that 
mode  of  thinking.  He  employed  much  art,  and  some  degree  of 
eloquence;  he  avoided  the  cant  of  his  companions, yet  he  retain- 
ed as  much  of  their  "  luscious  tedious  way,"  as  made  the  most 
rigid  acknowledge  him  as  a  true  heir  of  the  spirit  of  the  Society.* 

We  admire  Barclay  more  as  an  amiable  man  and  a  scholar, 
than  as  a  Quaker.  His  eminence,  in  this  respect,  is  conspicuous, 
as  he  stands  alone.  The  vvritcrs  of  his  Society,  with  the  exception 
of  Penn,  (I  do  not  except  Fisher,)  were  wild  and  rustic.  We  look 
into  Barclay's  good  modern  Latin,  and  his  flowing  style,  rather  as 
a  literary  curiosity  and  a  proof  of  talent,  than  as  a  defence  of 
Quakerism.  It  is,  indeed,  not  calculated  to  please  by  consistency 
or  perspicuity.  We  can  allow  him  only  the  merit  (and  it  is  no 
small  merit)  of  writing  good  modern  Latin,  and  of  making  a  judi- 
cious arrangement  of  all  that  an  apologist  can  say  in  a  bad 
cause.  The  English  copy  wants  the  elegance  of  the  original  ;t  it 
is  tedious  and  dull.  He  thrusts,  occasionally,  an  octavo  page  into 
one  sentence.  His  an  !  iguitics  and  defects  are  numerous  and 
glaring. 

But  the  Scottish  nation,  or  rather  the  religious  world,  has  not 
yet  done  justice  to  that  distinguished  man  who  entered  the  Ifsts 
against  Barclay,  and  helped  to  clear  Scotland  of  this  pestilence : 
I  mean  Jolm  Brown  of  fVamphry,  who  reviewed  the  Latin  Apology 
in  his  book  entitled  "  Quakerism  the  Pathn-ay  to  PaganismJ'^l 

Barclay,  as  an  apologist,  appears  with  good  grace.  He  comes 
forward  with  the  easy  elegance  of  an  old  Parisian  ;  he  possesses 
caution,  shrewdness,  and  cunning.  He  shows  a  mind  trained  in 
a  Catholic  college  among  Jesuits  and  men  of  taste.  He  had  his 

*  See  the  judicious;  note  of  Mosh.  vol.  v  cent.  17,  sec.  2,  on  Barclay. — 
Few  writers  have  t'ornied  a  move  just  idea  of  the  sentiments  of  the  Society 
than  tliis  accurate  historian.  He  who  has  had  the  courage  and  patience  to 
wade  through  the  Quaker  folios,  and  who  next  turns  to  Mosheim,  will  ad- 
mire the  accuracy  and  the  lenity  of  that  histofian. 

I  See  the  Latin  copy  in  the  Philad.  Public  Library,  No.  1167,  8vo. 

X  A  suiall  4to.  pp.  5C9.  Ediaburgli,  A.  D.  1678.  "ijee  Note  A.  Apj^en- 
dix  L 


Jn  Ilistarical  Dissertation.  85 

afflictions  ;*  but  the  laird  of  the  barony  of  Uryt  enjoyed  afflu- 
ence and  domestic  comfort.  This  had  its  influence  on  the  style 
of  the  Apology. 

But  Brown  of  Wamphry  came  rushing  down,  like  Laocoon, 
into  the  midst  of  his  nation,  and  gives  the  alarm  to  his  hesitating 
countrymen.    Without  troubling  himself  about  consequences,  he 
hurls  his  spear  into  the  Grecian  m-onster :  he  rouses  the  energy 
of  ministers  and  people.     The  truth  lay,  he  thought,  clearly  on 
his  side.     He  felt  the  value  of  the  glorious  gospel,  for  which  he 
had  suffered  even  to  bonds  and  cruel  imprisonment ;  and  for  the 
sake  of  which;  he  was,  at  this  time,  banished  from  his  native 
country,  and  the  secret  and  soothing  comforts  of  the  domestic 
circle.  His  spirit  Avas  irritated.    He  was  not  very  nice  in  the  se- 
lection of  his  weapons.  Like  the  hardy  and  brave  Highlander  in 
the  dress  and  rude  weapons  of  his  ancestors ;  or  like  Sampson, 
with  the  jaw  bone  of  an  ass,  he  clears  the  field  without  any  ceremony 
or  respect  to  nice  feelings.  Every  circumstance  conspired  to  pro- 
duce this  excitement  in  Brown.  The  church  lay  bleeding  under  a 
persecution  which  had  spread  desolation  over  Scotland  for  many 
years.:}:  Truth  had  fallen  in  the  street  under  the  steel  of  the  hier- 
archy.   Brown  saw,   with   anguish,  Barclay  inflicting  a   fresh 
and  a  deep  wound.  He  entered  the  single  combat  with  the  feel- 
ings of  the  hero  who  spreads  his  shield  over  his    fallen   friend. 
His  feelings  defy  the  curb  of  strict  propriety.    His  scowling  eye 
bids  defiance  to  error  only.     He  was  not  actuated  by  personal 
revenge.     Grief  and  sorrow  are  uppermost  in  his  breast,  while  he 
bends  over  the  bleeding  victim.     He  hurls  into  the  dust  the  doc- 
trines of  Saccas  ;  and  the  raging  hero  leaves  not  the  field,  till  he 
has  put  down  the  foe,  and  scattered  their  ruins. § 

The  victory  in  Scotland  was  complete.  The  society  docs  in- 
deed pretend  that  Barclay's  answer  silenced  Brown ;  but  "  Qua- 

•  Five  months  imprisonment  by  an  unrighteous  magistracy. 

f  In  the  North  of  Scotland. 

X  During  the  tyrannical  power  of  Charles  IT.  and  James  II. 

§  The  preface  of  Brown  partake?,  in  a  high  degree,  of  the  tone  of  con- 
troversy of  that  age.  The  partial  author  of  tlie  "  Life  of  Barclay,"  and 
the  ill-informed  author  of  thi'  article  Barclay,  in  Brewster's  Encyclope- 
dia, have  not  done  justice  to  Brciwu.  The  j)oicmic  of  that  age  should  not 
be  compared  with  the  moderns,  but  with  his  own  contemporaries.  I  cau- 
produce,  out  of  Penn  and  other  leading  Quaker  authors,  much  that  is 
equal  to  the  worst  in  Brown,  and  much  that  is  worstv 


86  ,2w  Historical  Dissertation, 

kerism  confirmed"  is  a  bare  repetition  of  former  assertions^  Not 
an  argument  of  Brown  has  been  weakened.  Besides,  Brown's 
quarto  was  published  in  the  close  of  the  year  1678.  Barclay's 
reply  (which  has  sunk  into  oblivion,)  must  have  been  posterior  to 
this.  It  could  not  have  been  seen  by  BroAvn ;  for  while  Barclay 
was  admitted  into  the  presence  of  Charles  II,  and  was  even  gain- 
ing favours  for  his  sect,*  Brown  perished  in  A.  D.  1679,  by  a 
lingering  disease,  on  a  foreign  shore  ;  whither  the  cruelty  of  that 
persecuting  tyrant  and  his  brother,  had  pursued  him.t  But  the 
result  determines  on  whose  side  the  victory  lies.  The  Quakers 
were  defeated  ;  and  even  at  this  day,  while  they  form  a  respect- 
able portion  of  the  population  of  England  and  America,  there  are 
only  a  few  in  the  kingdom  of  Scotland,  and  even  these  few  are 
decreasing.! 

§  15.  On  the  continent  of  Europe,  the  society  gained,  at  an 
early  day,  a  firm  footing  among  the  Protestants.  Two  causes 
operated  greatly  in  its  favour.  It  was  there  that  the  sect  of  the 
Mystics  had  widely  diffused  itself;  and  Pope  Innocent  XI,  short- 
ly after  A.  D.  1676,  had  issued  his  bull  against  Molinists  and 
Quietists  ;  and  as  the  thunder  of  the  Vatican  had  always  a  fiery 
bolt  accompanying  it,  many  of  these  people  were  driven  from  the 
Catholic  countries,  to  take  shelter  under  the  liberty  enjoyed  by 
Protestant  Europe.  These  carried  with  them  the  seeds  of  the 
Quaker  principles.  Combining  their  efforts,  these  sects  reaped  a 
plentiful  harvest  in  Holland  and  Germany.§ 

§  16.  The  Friends  were  introduced  on  the  continent  of  Ameri- 
ca by  the  celebrated  William  Penn.  Under  his  fostering  care 
and  wise  policy,  they  have  grown  up  to  be  a  powerful  body. 
These  differ  considerably  from  the  European  Quakers.  There 
arc  two  prominent  parts  in  their  character,  in  which  this  differ- 

*    Bar.  ^ife  p.  33,  S^c.  edition  of  A.  U.  1805. 

I  Mr.  Ward's  preface  to  P-rnwn's  bonk,  "  the  Swan  Song  :"  and  preface 
to  Brown  on  tlie  Ri)muns.    Also  Cruikshank's  hist.  vol.  i   ch.  IV.  and  XI. 

±  "  Of  the  society  of  Quakers  in  Scotland,"  says  Sir  John  Carr,  in  A.  D. 
1803,  "  tiiere  are  only  betwfen  one  hundred  and  one  hundred  and  fifty, 
above  seventeen  years  of  age."    Caledonian  sketches,  ch.  8,  ad  finem. 

§  Germany  has,  of  all  countries,  been  the  most  fertile  in  enthusiasm. 
Sleidan  asserts  that,  to  his  knowledge,  there  had  appeared  forty  thousand 
7)reter.ders  to  prophecy.     Comment,  lib.  v. 


•in  Historical  Dissertation.  87 

ence  is  marked.  First,  They  are  not  4cnown  to  have  exhibited 
many  of  those  indecencies  and  frantic  follies,  into  which  the  cru- 
elty of  persecution  drove  their  early  English  brethren.  And 
second,  Availing  themselves  of  their  liberty,  and  their  distance 
from  the  opposition  carried  on  against  their  sect  in  Europe,  they 
have  propagated  the  early  opinions  of  the  society,  with  a  licensCj 
in  which  no  European  Quaker  could  persuade  himself  to  indulge.* 

§  17.  There  are  three  periods  in  the  Quaker  history.  The 
first  is  the  Foxonian.  This  period  is  distinguished  by  the  obscu- 
rity of  their  ideas,  and  the  outrageous  disorders  of  their  public 
conduct.!  Their  doctrines  were  not  drawn  from  the  Scriptures  ; 
they  were  not  tangible  to  reason.^  Their  "  Christ  within''^  was 
taken  by  some  of  them,  in  a  manner  natural  enough,  for  Christ 
tvithin  them  litcraUy.  This  led  them  into  excesses  in  speech,  and 
in  practices.  It  became  a  favourite  topic  with  them,  to  deny  the 
necessity  of  the  gospel  history  of  the  sufferings  and  death  of  our 
Lord.  They  affirmed,  that  those  who  had  it  not,  may  be  saved, 
as  well  as  those  who  do  have  it.  Others  even  denied  that  there 
was  any  other  Christ,  and  any  other  sufferings  of  Christ  than 
those  which  are  zoithiti  ;§  nor  were  their  excesses  in  practice  less 
frantic.  Toldervy  and  Naylor,  and  Milner  are  melancholy  in- 
stances of  what  befel  not  a  few.  Believing  that  Christ  dwelt  in 
them  as  he  did  inhim  xcho  was  crucified  onCahary,  Naylor  accepted 
of  divine  homage,  and  was  led  into  Bristol  on  horseback,  (in  the 
absence  of  an  ass),|)  while  they  shouted  hosannahs  to  that  Son  of 
God.  Toldervy  having  put  himself  through  a  form  of  crucifixion, 
covered  himself  in  a  paper  winding  sheet ;  lay  three  quarters  of 
an  hour  (a  quarter  for  a  day,)  and  having  risen  "  hy  the  mighty 
power  of  God,''''  he  ran  over  fields  and  ditches  into  a  Quaker  meet- 
ing, and  proclaimed  that  Christ  was  risen,  and  was  now  come  to 
commission  twelve  of  them  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  dark 

*  What  these  opinions  are,  we  shall  see  presently.  See  Keith's  "  De- 
ism of  IV.  Penn  ;"  and  the  life  of  Custer,  who  was  an  eye-witness,  in 
Philadelphia,  of  the  Keithian  controversy.  And  Mosh.  Eccl.  Hist,  vol, 
V.  cent.  17, part  2,  sect.  2,  ch.  4. 

\  See  a  pamphlet,  entitled  "  Hell  broke  loone  ;"  and  Hongill's  reply, 
*♦  the  mouth  of  the  fiit  stopped  ;''  and  Penn  ii.  75. 

X  Dr.  Owen  on  Trinity,  Ed.  1798,  p.  T>^. 

§  See  Smith's  Primer  for  Quaker  childi-en,  p.  8,  and  Mosh.  vol.  v.  c 
17,  part  ii.  sect.  2. 

Ij  Frwm  the  "  difficulty  "  Hume  thinks,  "  of  Ending  an  ass  in  Bristol!" 


88  ^?i  Historical  Dissertation. 

world.*  This  whole  period  is  marked  by  scenes  of  disorder. 
The  leading  Quakers  strolled  about,  and  burst  into  churches  du- 
ring the  divine  service ;  interrupting  the  worship,  and  insulting 
the  ministry.  They  spoke  contemptuously  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, and  of  all  the  divine  ordinances.!  This  period  extends 
from  about  A.  D.  1645  to  A.  D.  1660. 

In  the  second  period,  the  society  appears  to  more  advantage. 
Their  conduct  is  more  orderly,  and  their  tenets  begin  to  be  redu- 
ced to  a  system.  This  was  the  fruit  of  the  labours  of  Penn,  Keith, 
and  other  distinguished  leaders  ;  and  being  reduced  to  the  form 
of  a  system,  they  appeared  in  their  true  light.  "  The  Quakers," 
said  a  cotemporary  of  Penn,  "  who  have  for  a  long  season  hover- 
ed about  like  a  swarm  of  flies,  begin  now  to  settle  down  in  the 
opinions  lately  by  them  declared  for."| 

Penn  was,  to  say  the  least,  a  Sabellian.  He  rejected  the  holy 
doctrine  of  three  distinct  persons  in  the  Godhead.  He  admitted 
that  there  is  a  Father,  a  Son,  and  a  Holy  Spirit ;  but  he  taught  that 
these  are  the  same.  He  appears,  at  other  times,  to  breathe  the 
spirit  of  a  Socinian.  He  quotes  and  applauds  the  idea  of  Crel- 
lius,  "  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  power  and  efficacy  of  God ;'' 
which  enters  into  man,  and  is  the  same  thing  as  divine  inspira- 
tion§.  In  his  "  sandy  foundation,''''  Penn  has  engrafted  on  his  mys- 
tic system,  these  tenets  in  their  most  virulent  forms.  Even  Priest- 
ley's zeal  meets  a  rival  here.  Even  Hume,  and  the  poet  of  Ferney 
are  not  more  violent  against  the  atonement  of  our  Lord.||  His 
belief  on  these  fundamental  articles  was  suspected  at  an  earlj^'" 
period.  The  suspicion  was  excited  at  a  public  dispute  at  the 
Spital  in  London.  He  there  opposed,  for  the  first  time,  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity.  This  drew  the  attention  of  the  Socinians. 
A  leader  of  that  sect  applauded  his  labours,  and  courted  his 
friendship.     When  his  "  sandy  foundation'''  appeared,  the  fears  of 

*  Toldervy 'shook,  "  Foof  out  of  the  Snare.'"  See  this  curious  produc- 
tion in  Phil.  Library,  Miscell.  4to.  No.  927.  See  Bebse,  Hist.  ii.  2,  3, 
Sewel  Hibi.  i.  p.  246.'     Fox's  Great  M>  st.  p.  298,  edit,  of  1659. 

t  Fox  in  vol.  i.  Jour,  gives  a  detail  of  instances.  Snake  in  the  Grass, 
edit.  3,  p.  104.  This  author  challenged  the  society  to  produce  a  genuine 
passage  from  their  writings,  previous  to  the  year  1660  ;  which  speaks  with 
reverence  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  No  one,  so  far  as  I  can  discover,  ha- 
ventured  to  take  up  the  glove. 

X  Dr.  Owen  on  the  Trinity,  edit.  1793,  p.  78. 

§SeeCrellius  "  of  the  One  God,''  p.  197,  and  Penn  ii.  pp.  109,  llC 

II  See  Poet  ii.  ch.  vii.  following. 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  89 

the  christian  public  were  confirmed  ;  and  iis  indignation  was 
turned  against  the  Quakers  as  a  Socinian  sect.  The  warmth  of 
their  aUies  was  increased ;  they  were  preparing  the  bonds  of 
union.  The  Quakers  and  Socinians  were  about  to  gird  on  their 
armour  in  the  common  cause.  But  Penn  was  a  Mystic ;  and  his 
system  was  not  j'ct  completed.  While  confined  in  the  Tower, 
and  awaiting  his  trial  under  the  charge  of  blasphemy,  he  con- 
tinued to  make  additions  to  it.  He  wrote  his  "  innocence  with  opetx 
face ;"  an  apology  for  the  sentiments  of  his  first  piece.  He  avows 
that  "  he  had  not  budged  one  jot,*'  from  the  opinions  of  the  ''  san- 
dy foundation."  He  applauds  Socinus,  as  one  who  had  clearer 
prospects  of  the  truth  than  the  most  of  his  cotemporaries  ;*  then 
approaching  the  point  in  dispute,  he  confesses  ''  the  divinity  of 
Christ.''''  He  admits  that  there  are  three  in  the  Godhead.  His 
Socinian  allies  viewed  him  with  amazement.  Th^y  accused  him 
of  gross  contradiction.  He  denied  the  persons  of  the  trinity,  and 
yet  advocated  their  divinity.  They  turned  from  him  with  dis- 
gust ;  they  refused  their  fellowship  to  his  sect ;  but  this  meagre 
explanation  gained  Penn  his  liberty,  and  his  assertion  was  true. 
He  had  not  "  budged  onejot.^''  That  Christy  whose  divinity  he  ad- 
vocates, is  their  "  light  within.''^  It  is  divine,  because  it  is  merely 
God  in  his  enlightening  power ;  and  the  third,  the  spirit,  is  God 
in  another  of  his  functions.! 

What  inconsistencies  are  crowded  into  human  character  !  Penn 
had,  with  daring  hand,  impugned  the  holiest  doctrines  of  Christi- 
anity ;  he  had  even  engrafted  on  his  mystic  principles  the  deism 
of  Lord  Herbert.^  The  church,  and  all  good  men  are  in  tears. 
They  bewail  the  impiety  of  this  man ;  while  he,  in  his  cell,  under 
the  accusation  of  blasphemy,  consoles  himself  in  his  sufferings 
for  Christ ;  and  with  great  humility,  enrols  himself  in  the  list  of 
martyrs ;  and  writes  his  "  no  Cross^  no  Crown  !  /"  The  christian 
world  asks,  what  is  that  cross  of  Penn,  without  which  there  is  no 

•  Penn,  vol,  i.  p.  268. 

t  Compare  his  "  sandy  foundations^'  and  his  "  innocency  with  open 
face,"  in  vol.  i.  of  his  works. 

^  This  writer,  in  his  treatise  "  De  Religione  Gentilum,"  lays  down  five 
articles,  which  he  supposes  to  embrace  all  that  is  necessary  to  salvation. 
He  excludes  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  bible.  His  articles  are,  he  says, 
of  universal  apphcation.  This  deism  Penn  embodies  into  his  system.  See 
his  "  Christ.  Quak."  ch.  7,  8,  10, 11 — See  Keith's  deism  of  W.  Penn,  and 
Vincent's  review  of  the  '*  Sandy  Foundation,"  written  by  Penn. 

15 


90  Jin  Historical  Dissertation, 

crown  ?  It  is  a  cross  of  suffering,  from  the  indignation  of  the 
christian  public,  levelled  against  blasphemy  of  a  peculiar  and 
deep  aggravation  !  Yes.  Let  the  christian  world  remember,  that 
it  was  in  these  circumstances,  in  this  medley  of  impiety  and  mar- 
tyrdom, that  this  book  was  composed,  by  this  most  singular  and 
most  deluded  man  !* 

The  third  period  is  that  of  Barclay.  He  appeared  at  a  time 
when  the  keenest  opposition  was  carried  on  against  the  society. 
The  principles  of  Penn,  which  his  influence  had  spread  widely 
in  the  society,  had  kindled  a  furious  flame  against  them  in  Eng- 
land. Barclay  undertakes  to  give  the  world  the  most  correct 
picture  of  their  tenets.  He  moulded  the  system  of  mysticism  into 
a  new  form ;  and  drawing  a  veil  over  the  Socinianism  of  his  com- 
patriots, he  has  compressed  over  the  whole,  the  prominent  fea- 
tures of  the  Arminian  and  the  Pelagian  heresy.t 

§  18.  There  was  a  gradual  amalgamation  of  the  heterogenous 
sentiments  of  these  three  periods.  This  process  took  place  under 
the  strong  pressure  of  the  public  opinion  against  them ;  excited 
and  strengthened  by  very  able  writers.  The  society,  led  on  by 
Penn  and  Barcla\'^,  certainly  did  recede  from  the  more  mystic 
sentiments  of  Fox ;  j^et  it  was  a  retreat,  conducted  with  the  face 
towards  the  enemy.  This  needs  little  proof.  Vfe  have  only  to 
look  into  Penn's  first  works,  which  appeared  about  the  year  1 668, 
especially  his  "  sandy  foundation,'^  and  compare  them  with  the 
wonderful  concessions  in  his  pieces,  written  between  the  years 
1692  and  1698;  particularly  his  "^e?/,"  and  his  '■'■Reply  to  the 
bishop  of  Cork.''''  There  is  as  great  a  difference  between  the  opin- 
ions of  these  two  periods,  as  there  is  between  the  young  Penn,  the 
dashing  and  thoughtless  son  of  admiral  Penn,  and  William  Penn, 
in  the  full  flowing  uniform  of  the  society  ;  advancing  with  cautious 
steps,  and  a  suspicious  eye  thrown  on  all  around  him,  and  bowing 
beneath  the  storm  of  public  opinion.  Barclay's  talents,  enriched 
with  the  knowledge  of  the  Roman  fathers,  which  certainly  bear 
a  near  affinity  to  the  modifications  of  Arminius,  reformed  the 
Quaker  system  still  more.  The  authors  of  the  "  Brief  Apology''^ 

»  It  is  obvious  that  I  speak  of  Penn  as  a  sectarian  leader,  and  a  polemic 
H^'dhe  confined  himself  to  politics,  his  fame  had  been  entire. 
f  See  his  Theses,  and  the  Prop,  of  the  Apol. 

X  Dublin  ed.  of  1727. 


»ln  Historical  Dissertation.  91 

are  even  more  liberal,  and  more  Pelagian ;  and  S.  Fuller  has 
gone  as  far  as  any  man  can  venture,  in  mingling  the  system  of 
Saccas  with  that  of  Pelagius,  and  of  Arminius,  to  suit  the  modern 
taste.* 

§  19.  Each  of  these  periods  has  produced  its  authors.  Each 
has  its  partizans.  Hence  the  great  diversity  of  sentiment,  even 
to  this  day,  in  the  society.  We  meet  with  the  undefinable  dog- 
ipata  of  Fox,  the  Sabellianism  of  Fenn,  the  mystico-Arminianism 
of  Barclay.  In  later  times.  Job  Scottt  advances  the  Sabellian- 
ism of  Penn.  At  a  still  later  date,  we  find  the  mystico-Socinia- 
no-Arminianism  of  the  society,  on  the  dull  pages  of  Clarkson,  and 
the  silly  pages  of  Bristed.  Hence  the  society  can,  with  a  clear 
conscience,  adhere  to  the  declaration  which  they  made  in  the 
year  1699  ;  "  We  have  not  flinched  from  the  tenets  of  our  an- 
cient elders." 

§  20.  Under  the  first  of  these  periods,  though  not  confined  to 
it,  appeared  those  bodily  phenomena,  which  imposed  on  them  the 
name  of  Quakers.  Their  speakers  "  had  hideous  contortions,  and 
violent  motions  of  their  limbs."  They  whined  and  hummed  their 
discourses  in  a  confused  imitation  of  singing ;  and  occasionally, 
with  uplifted  face,  "  they  bellowed  as  they'd  burst  the  heavens," 
and  fell  down  in  an  ecstacy.|  These  bodily  affections  are  thus 
described  by  an  eye-witness : — They  fell  down,  they  heaved 
their  breasts  as  if  they  would  burst ;  they  quaked,  they  foamed 
at  their  mouth ;  they  were  convulsed  as  if  their  limbs  would  be 
thrown  into  pieces."§  Penn  accounts  thus  for  these  "  holy  trem- 
blings ;" — "  The  Quakers  were  overtaken  by  the  mighty  hand  of 
God ;  great  were  their  pangs,  under  the  terrors  of  the  Lord." — 
"  Being  redeemed  through  judgment,  they  became  ministers  of 

**«Sevious  Reply"  to  Boyce.     Dublin,  A.  D.  1728. 

1 1792.     See  Rathbone's  Narrative,  and  Job  Scott's  Journal . 

^  Fal''o's  Quakerism,  See.  p.  11,  12. 

4  "  Stablishing  against  quaking,'^  published  in  1656.  See  the  "  Petition 
of  a  county  against  the  Quakers,"  in  the  "  Snake  in  the  Grass,"  p.  21,  No. 
1474,  duod.  Phil.  Lib.  See  Fox's  "  Saul's  Errand  to  Damascus,"  p.  5, 
ancient  ed.  Warner's  Eccles.  Hist,  ii  p  581,  ed.  Lond.  1756,  fol.  Clark- 
son  and  others,  in  the  usual  penury  of  their  views,  gravely  tell  us,  that  the 
society  were  called  Quakers,  because  Fox  called  upon  the  Justice  Bennet 
to  tremble  at  the  word  of  the  Lord!  On  this  supposition,  Mr.  Justice 
Bennet  should  have  been  the  Quaker. 


9!J'  *1h  Hisfoncal  Dissertation. 

judgment  to  others.  The  terrors  of  \t  struck  thousands.  The 
devils  trembled,  and  all  flesh  was  as  grass  ;"  and — "  did  not  the 
devils  roar  and  tremble,  when  about  to  be  cast  out  by  a  stronger 
than  themselves."* 

Barclay  also  makes  honourable  mention  of  these  spasmodic 
affections.  He  ascribes  them  to  the  violent  collisions  between 
"  the  good  seed  and  the  bad  seed."  When  Satan  strives  to  excite 
the  one,  and  the  spirit  strives,  by  a  counter  influence,  to  raise  the 
other,  the  combat  is  carried  on  with  varied  success.  The  fraif 
vessel  which  contains  the  fierce  combatants,  trembles,  and  is  con- 
vulsed ;  and  it  is  not  till  after  fearful  quakings,  that  the  song  of 
victory  bursts  forth. t 

These  bodily  phenomena  are  purely  Platonic-  That  ancient 
sect  held,  that  the  soul,  in  its  struggles  to  ascend  to  its  pure  light 
and  intellect,  meets  with  violent  opposition  from  the  corrupt  mat- 
ter of  the  body.  "  During  these  struggles,  an  evil  spirit"  (Bar- 
clay calls  it  "  the  spirit  ofdarkness''''l) "  is  insinuated  into  the  place 
of  the  Divine.  And  what  will  not  the  soul  suffer  under  the  pres- 
sure of  such  an  evil  ?"§  Those  theologians,  who  modelled  this 
Platonic  principle  into  a  christian  form,  made  three  sorts  or  de- 
grees of  contemplation.  The  first  is  purely  intellectual ;  the  se- 
cond is  confined  exclusively  to  the  affections  ;  the  third  is  a  com- 
pound of  the.  other  two.  To  the  second  class,  says  Hilton,l| 
belongs  a  peculiar  "  vocal  prayer,"  in  which,  "  a  man  feeling  the 
grace  of  devotion,  speaks  to  God,  as  it  were,  bodily  in  his  pre- 
sence, with  words  suiting  his  inward  stirrings."  "  This  is  painful 
to  the  spii'it,"  says  he,  "  and  wasting  to  the  body.  For  it  makes 
the  body  move  here  and  there,  as  if  the  man  were  mad  or  drunk, 
and  could  have  no  rest."1T 

On  these  principles  of  the  Platonics,  are  engrafted  the  very 

*  Faldo  wittily  remarked,  that  •'  people  having  taken  the  Quakers  to 
be  possessed  of  the  devil,  when  so  behaving,  Mr.  Penn  has  here  confessed 
that  they  are  not  mistaken  ;  and  more  than  this  too,  that  they  themselves 
are  devils.  For  it  was  they  only  that  roared."  Penn  calls  this  a  "frothy 
reply"  vol.  ii.  322,  334. 

t  Apology,  Prop.  xi.  sect.  8.  i  A-pol.  Prop.  x.  sect.  7. 

4  Synesius,  a  Platonic  Phil,  and  a  prof.  Christian.  See  Taylor's  Plat. 
li.  p.  276. 

B  A  Carthusian,  in  his  "  scale  of  perfection,"  written  for  the  mother  of 
King  Henry  VII.  of  England. 

1  See  Dr.  Wettenhall's  "  Gifts  and  Offices,  8cc."  p.  167,  No.  1650, 
duod.  Phil.  Libr. 


tdn  Historical  Dissertation.  93 

opposite  practices  of  two  modern  sects.  The  one  is  that  of  the 
dancers ;  whom  this  principle  carried  forth  into  the  merriest  ges- 
tures in  devotion.  They  sung,  they  danced,  they  jumped  Avith 
unparalleled  vivacity.  They  threw  the  ancient  revels  of  Bac- 
chus completely  into  the  shade.  This  sect  is  perpetuated  by  a 
sect  of  dissenting  Quakers  in  the  United  States.  The  other  sect 
is  that  of  the  tremblers.  The  convulsive  agonies  in  their  worship 
were,  in  all  respects,  similar  to  those  of  the  priestess  of  Apollo, 
when  thrown  from  her  tripod  by  the  agitations  "  of  the  God  with- 
in ;"  and  to  those  of  the  ancient  Syrian  priests,  mentioned  in  the 
pages  of  Apuleius.  "  They  raved  and  sighed.  They  drew  their 
breath  from  their  very  bowels.  At  length,  they  fell  down  in  a 
phrenetic  fit ;  pretending  to  be  replete  with  the  spirit  of  the  god- 
dess."* The  same  bodily  affections  were  observed  among  the 
Jews  at  Rome,  and  other  places,  in  the  j-ear  IGlS.t 

The  convulsions  of  Apollo  lasted  with  various  fame,  during  the 
glory  of  the  Delphic  oracle.  At  last,  that  spirit  left  his  shrine. 
The  quakings  of  the  Syrian  priests  also  ceased.  So  these  "  holy 
tremblings,"  which  commenced  about  the  year  1G50,  went  on 
briskly  till  1660.  These  ancient  tremblings  were  completely 
outdone  by  them.  Those  of  the  priestess  could  bear  no  compa- 
rison. Here  were  the  spasms  of  the  delicate  female.  But  in  the 
society,  not  only  little  children]:  and  women,  but  robust  men 
were  thrown  into  "  hideous  contortions."  In  the  former  case,  a 
solitary  person  filled  the  temple  of  the  idol  with  groans  and 
shrieks.  In  the  latter,  prostrate  hundreds  covered  the  place,  as 
in  a  day  of  slaughter.  And  if  any  credit  can  be  given  to  an  au- 
thor, who  was  an  eye-witness  of  what  he  relates,  so  great  was 
the  combat  between  "  the  good  seed  and  the  bad  seed,"  and  so 
hideous  were  the  groans  and  the  yellings,  that  in  a  field  adjacent 
to  a  meeting,  the  herds  of  cattle,  and  swine,  and  dogs,  ran  about 
as  if  mad :  and  each  joining  in  the  notes  which  Nature  has  given 
them,  they  swelled  the  chorus  into  something  super-human.§ 
'*  Totus  autem  simul  bacchatus  est  mons.'''' 

*  Boileau's  Hist,  of  the  Flagellantes,  ch.  G,  86,  No.  3117,  octavo,  Phil 
Library. 

t  By  Sir  E.  Sandy's  "  View  of  Reli^.  in  the  West,"  p.  241. 

X  Bar,  Apol.  Prop.  XI.  sect.  8,  p.  374.    And  "  Snake.  Sec."  p.  24.  Fox 
-•  Saul's  Errand,"  p.  5.     And  Basse,  vol.  ii.  p.  2.  No.  270,  folio,  Phil.  Libr. 

§  "  Snake,  &c."  p.  300,  No.  1474,  dv.od.  Phi!,  Library. 


94  tin  Historical  Dissertation. 

But,  as  in  its  ancient  precedent,  this  spirit  began  to  evaporate. 
From  the  year  1660  it  gradually  declined;  and  about  1697,  it 
almost  entirely  disappeared.* 

And  in  subsequent  periods,  and  even  until  lately,  the  preachers 
had  some  dregs  of  this  turbulent  spirit.  They  quaked,  they 
shuddered,  and  heaved  up  words  with  hollow  groans  from  the 
"  fund  of  the  soul ;"  but  still  they  kept  on  their  feet.  And  in  our 
times,  in  Philadelphia,  there  have  been  specimens  of  violent 
shruggings  of  the  shoulders,  and  brachial  twitches,  and  prodi- 
gious wry  faces,  and  thumpings  on  the  pews.  These,  however, 
are  not  so  much  the  effects  of  the  Delphic  spirit,  as  the  unna- 
tural efforts  of  a  mind  in  travail,  when  it  has  nothing  to  bring 
forth! 

"  Vixque  tenet  lacrymas,  quia  nil  lacrymabile  cernit."t    Ovid. 

§  2i.  During  the  first  period,  and  also  the  second,  the  zeal  of 
their  prophets  carried  them  into  extravagances  of  another  kind. 
To  give  a  brilliancy  to  their  denunciations,  and  to  rouse  the  pub- 
lic attention,  they  taught  by  signs.  Some  of  them  went  into 
churches,  during  service,  clothed  in  sackcloth,  and  their  hair 
sprinkled  with  ashes.  Two  females  entered  the  protestant  church 
in  Dieppe,  in  France,  took  their  station  in  a  conspicuous  place, 
and  turning  round  in  solemn  silence  to  every  quarter  of  the 
church,  exhibited  their  clothing  in  sackcloth,  and  their  heads  co- 
vered with  ashes.|  Barclay,  with  all  his  learning  and  talents, 
was  not  a  match  for  the  sweeping  spirit  of  fanaticism.  This  great 
man  actually  fell  into  the  rank  of  the  raving  fanatics,  and  march- 
ed through  the  streets  of  Aberdeen  in  sackcloth.§  A  female  in 
sackcloth  and  ashes  denounced  woes  against  the  wicked  town  of 
Kendal.ll  Huntington,  robed  in  a  linen  sheet,  surmounted  with 
a  halter,  round  his  neck,  instead  of  a  cravat,  stood  as  a  spectacle 
to  the  gaping  audience  of  Carlisle  church.lT  A  female  in  the  garb 

•  Snake,  8tc.  p.  295. 

f  In  the  island  of  Formosa  priestesses  officiate  in  the  pagan  rites  of  the 
altar.  During  their  devotional  services,  they  exhibit  all  the  trances, 
tremblings,  and  convulsions  of  ancient  Delphi.  See  Rechteren's  Voyage 
to  the  E.  Indies.     Brought.  Diet,  of  all  Relig.  ii.  p.  359 

i  Sewel,  vol.  ii.  p.  176.  They  made  a  pilgrimage  from  England  for 
this  purpose  alone. 

§  Biog.  Brit.  art.  Barclay,  and  his  Life,  p.  25. 

II  Fox,  Jour.  ii.  65.  1  Do.  i.  p.  531. 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  95 

of  sackcloth,  and  having  her  streaming  hair  covered  with  ashes, 
passed  to  the  different  gates  of  Bristol ;  with  courage  peculiar  to 
prophetesses,  she  stood  during  half  an  hour  at  the  centre  of  the 
market  place ;  the  graceless  mob,  however,  pelted  her,  and  she 
retreated.*  Anne  Wright,  having  in  the  same  garb  made  her  de- 
but, into  St.  Patrick's  in  Dublin,  entered  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Lon- 
don, and  went  in  these  weeds  throug^i  the  chief  streets,  as  a  sign 
of  approaching  judgments.!  But  to  crown  the  whole,  these  pro- 
phets appeared  in  public  in  a  state  of  nudity.  During  the  Com- 
monwealth, and  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  several  individuals  of 
the  society  went  in  naked  processions  through  the  streets  of  Lon- 
don.f  A  female  came,  in  a  state  of  perfect  nudity,  into  Whitehall 
chapel,  before  the  Protector.§  The  most  distinguished  of  these 
Lupercalian  heroes  were  Eccles  and  Simpson.  In  London  the 
former  appeared  naked  in  the  fair :  and  held  on  in  his  lectures 
and  denunciations  against /o//y,  till  the  loud  whips  of  the  coach- 
men made  him  seek  safety  in  flight.  At  another  time,  he  threw 
a  catholic  chapel  in  Ireland,  into  a  scene  of  confusion.  In  the 
midst  of  mass,  this  lupercus  entered  naked  from  the  waist  up- 
wards, with  a  chafing  dish  on  his  head,  containing  coals  and 
burning  brimstone ;  and  he  cried  with  a  dolefiil  voice,  "  zoo,  wo, 
to  the  idols  and  its  worshippers  /"||  His  third  fete  was  performed 
in  a  church  in  London.  During  divine  service  he  came  in  stark 
naked;  and  raising  his  arms  besmeared  with  filth,  he  denounced 
the  woes  of  heaven  on  the  worshippers.lT  Simpson  continued  his 
naked  processions,  from  time  to  time,  during  the  space  of  three 
years  !** 

The  society  are  not  original  in  any  prominent  part  of  their 
doctrinal  or  practical  system.  In  this  licentious  practice  they 
had  their  precedents.  The  east  had  its  gumnosophists.  Marc 
Antony,  as  well  as  others,  acted  the  lupercus  at  Rome.tt  Greece 

•  Besse's  Suff.  of  the  Quakers,  i.  p.  41. 

t  Penn.  ii.  p.  77, 78,  &c.  -^  Fox,  Jour.  ii.  p.  65. 

§  Neal's  Hist,  of  the  Puritans,  vol.  iv.  ch.  3.  p.  175.  Bost.  edit.  Mosh. 
vol.  V.  cent.  17.  Hist,  of  the  Quakers.  Sewel  has  omitted  this  fact  for 
obvious  reasons.  I  cannot  with  the  Christ.  Obser.  (vol.  xiii.  p.  101.)  give 
this  up.  It  is  stated  by  Neal,  who  was  conversant  with  the  men  of  that 
period ;  and  though  stated  publicly  by  him,  it  never  was  questioned  till 
lately,  so  far  as  I  can  discover, 

II  Sewel,  ii.  226.  J  Leslie,  Snake,  p.  104,  or  p.  101  ed.  2d. 

•*  Fox's  Jour.  i.  531.   See  also  Tompkin's  Piety  Promoted,  p.  217,218. 

tt  Liv.  Hist.  lib.  i.    Plutarch  in  Anton.  &c. 


96  An  Historical  Dissertation. 

had,  among  her  cynics,  a  Diogenes  and  a  Menedemus  ;*  Bohe- 
mia and  Germany  had  their  Beghards ;  France  had  her  Turle- 
pins  ;t  Italy  her  friar  Juniper.!  All  these  professed  an  aversion 
to  the  shackles  of  clothing  in  their  holy  processions ! 

The  society  have  lately  told  the  world,  that  they  have  search- 
ed, and  can  find  no  evidence  that  any  of  their  females  were 
guilty  of  these  disorders. §  This  betrays  an  inexcusable  igno- 
rance of  the  history  and  of  the  sentiments  of  their  fathers.  Fox, 
and  Penn,  and  Sewel,  do  not  only  admit  the  facts,  but  applaud 
the  acts  of  these  immodest  lupercalians.|| 

§  22.  Dress. — The  society  have  always  shown  the  greatest 
anxiety  to  be  plain  and  simple.  In  the  attainment  of  this,  they 
changed  the  ancient  names  of  days  and  months,  as  heathenish ; 
though  their  reforming  hands  have  left  words  in  our  language 
equally  heathenish  in  origin.  They  changed  the  familiar  mode 
of  speech,  which  custom,  from  time  immemorial,  had  sanctioned. 
They  became  martyrs  and  confessors  for  the  honour  of  the  pro- 
nouns thee  and  thou.  Yet,  alack!  how  weak  are  even  martyrs! 
Though  they  suffered,  even  to  wounds  and  blood,  for  thee  and 
thou  in  the  singular ;  they  have  for  more  than  a  hundred  years 
been  committing  grammatical  murder  on  the  case  and  person. 
They  have  all  along  been  guilty  of  saying  "  how  does  thee  do  ?" 
They  carried  their  plainness,  in  a  rigid  manner,  in  ancient  times, 
to  their  houses  and  furniture.    Some  of  them,  when  sending  their 

*  Menedemus  made  his  processions  in  the  street  as  a  fury  come  fresh 
from  Tartarus,  to  note  down  the  incorrigibly  wicked.  VV.  Anderson's 
PhilosopViyof  Greece,  p.  368,  &.c.  foho. 

t  Mosh.  vol.  iii.  cent.  13,  p.  2,  ch.  2. 

X  See  Boileau's  Hist,  of  the  Flagellantcs,  ch.  23. 

§  In  their  remarks  on  Mosheim's  History,  in  an  appendix  to  the  Ame- 
rican editions  of  that  work,  they  are  careful  to  say  only  "  their  females." 
But  the  note  seems  to  convey  a  denial  of  these  naked  processions.  Mosh. 
Eccl.  Hist.  New  York  edit. 'vol.  iv.  p.  287. 

II  These  extravagances  should  not  have  been  noticed,  had  they  not 
5>io\vn  out  of  their  principles,  and  been  advocated  by  their  writers.  See 
Fox's  Jour.  vol.  i.  pp.  208,  499,  531  ;  ii.  p.  65,  79.  Sewel,  ii.  p.  226.  See 
article  Signs,  in  their  respective  indices.  Penn,  ii.  p.  80,  836,  and  parti- 
cularly the  eigiith  chapter  of  his  "  Seriozts  Jjiology."  Works,  vol.  ii. 
■'  for  his  saying  thai  some  of  our  women  went  naked,  'tis  affirmed 
'»  with  liglitness  ;  thu'  soniefcvj  of  otir  Friends  went  naked  for  a  sign," 
iiC.  Penn  then  proceeds  to  a  godly  comment  on  the  scandalous  practice. 
See  also  Farnsworth's  defence  of  these  lupcrci,  in  his  "'  Pure  Language 
of  the  S*:irit,"  printed  A.  D.  1656. 


*An  Historical  Dissertation,  9T 

eiiusions  from  the  press,  would  not  permit  a  proud  capital  letter 
to  stand  in  any  of  their  modest  pages.  And  one  removed  from 
his  tire  side  the  luxury  of  tongs,  and  subsdtuted  the  primitive 
implement  of  a  cloven  stick!*  But  the  pride  of  plainness  distin- 
guishes the  society  from  all  other  sects,  in  their  dress.  They 
wear  the  broad  brim,t  the  flowing  coat  and  breeches.  The  oral 
law  respecting  the  make  of  the  hat  and  the  coat,  has  been  like 
the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians ;  or  the  laws  of  China  when 
they  received  the  signature  of  the  red  pencil.  But,  as  to  the  make 
of  the  last  article,  I  mean  the  small  clothes,  I  cannot  find  that  it 
is  a  sine  qua  non — that  it  should  exactly  resemble  the  mode  of  that 
on  the  fine  statue  of  Penn,  in  the  hospital  yard  of  Philadelphia. 
This  has  got  a  convenience,  or  else  a  singular  decoration  in  front ; 
the  absence  of  which,  in  the  moderns,  records,  with  melancholy 
evidence,  how  much  they  have  degenerated  from  that  great  leader 
of  the  ton.  According  to  the  oral  canons,  which  fix  and  regulate 
their  costume,  the  most  orthodox  colour  is  drab ;  sober  gray  and 
brown,  are  tolerated.  Black  is,  for  obvious  reasons,  absolutely 
heterodox.  For  red,  the  use  of  it  is  prohibited,  and  even  pro- 
scribed by  the  oral  law,  in  terms  approaching  the  rigour  of  the 
law  of  Menii,  who  prohibits  the  Brahmins  of  India  from  even 
tratlicking  in  red  garments.^  The  gay  Quakers,  however,  it  must 
be  observed,  use  nearly  as  much  freedom  with  the  oral  canons  of 
the  society,  on  this  article,  as  many  of  the  clergy  do  with  the 
canons  of  the  church,  in  a  better  cause.  They  make  them  suit 
their  own  way  of  thinking. 

It  has  been  justly  observed,  that  there  is  litde  profit  in  disput- 
ing about  matters  of  taste.     Each  nation  has  its  own  customs  and 

*  Sewel,  vol.  i.  p.  242. 

t  The  broad  brim  has  exercised  the  wit  of  poets  and  actors  : 

"  IVKh  broad  brims  fiometimes  like  umbrellas." — Hudibras. 
The  profane  wit,  Nokes,  appeared  on  the  stage  under  a  tremendous  hat. 
But  this  was  only  as  the  iirst  fruits  to  the  harvest.  Diyden  brought  one 
of  his  pe.sonages  forward,  under  a  hat  made  after  the  dimensions  of  the 
hind  wheel  of  a  carnage.  See  Dunscomb's  Antiq.  of  liereford.  Edit,  of 
1804.  But  the  irresistilDle  courage,  and  imperturbable  gravity  of  the  socie- 
ty, in  defence  of  the  broad  brim,  have  secured  them  the  peaceable  and 
triumphant  possession  of  it. 

X  Sir  William  Jones's  Disc,  on  the  Relation  of  the  Chinese  to  the  Hin- 
dus ;  and  Life,  p.  393. 

16 


ys  ^n  Historical  Dissertation. 

standard  of  propriety.  Which  of  us  would  pretend  to  refute  the 
arguments  of  a  Turk  in  defence  of  his  beard  or  his  turban  ?  So 
tenacious  is  the  Chinese  of  his  customs,  that  solemn  embassies 
have  been  refused  an  audience,  because  the  haughty  European 
would  not  prostrate  himself,  or  beat  his  forehead,  a  given  num- 
ber of  times  on  the  floor,  before  the  presence !  We  cannot  refute 
feelings  or  taste.  Were  it  not  even  folly  to  persuade  the  society, 
that  the  broad  brim  should  give  way  to  the  narrow  brim  ?  They 
could  tell  you,  that  the  Chinese  wear  brims  even  broader  than 
theirs.  That  blue  or  black  is  a  finer  colour  than  drab?  They 
could  quote  against  us  the  custom  of  the  Asiatic  nations,  where 
light  colours  prevail.  That  they  should  banish  the  flowing  skirts  ? 
The  flowing  robes  of  the  east,  where  they  derived  their  opinions, 
are  clearly  in  their  favour.  That  modern  manners  make  it  a 
mark  of  respect  to  uncover  the  head  in  the  presence  of  a  superior  ? 
They  could  tell  you,  that  the  orientals  do  not  uncover  their  heads : 
"  that  the  Jews  at  Home,  and  the  west,  do  not  stir  their  bonnets 
"  in  their  synagogues  to  any  man,  but  remain  still  covered."*  And 
if  this  were  too  modern  to  render  it  venerable  authority,  they 
could  call  in,  to  their  aid,  the  ancient  Romans,  who  certainly  re- 
mained covered  in  their  temples,  when  they  drew  near  the  shrine 
of  their  idols.  And  what  is  more,  they  have  the  authority  of  Ta- 
citus and  of  Plutarch,  to  prove  that  it  was  an  especial  privilege 
of  the  priesthood  among  the  heathens,  in  their  public  intercourse, 
and  in  their  solem.n  services,  while  others  were  uncovered,  never 
to  lay  aside  their  hats.t 

It  is  very  certain,  therefore,  that  many  customs  prevail  among 
us,  for  which  we  cannot  produce  such  ancient  and  classic  authori- 
ty. However,  there  is,  unhappily  for  them,  one  circumstance 
which  operates  rather  against  their  system.  The  common  feel- 
ings and  sense  of  the  west  are  clearly  against  them.  Their  at- 
tempts to  bring  in  upon  us  the  customs'of  the  east,  and  its  fashions 
in  dress,  are  about  as  anomalous  and  extraordinary,  as  would  be 
the  zeal  of  a  Turk,  to  induce  the  citizens  of  Constantinople  to  ex 

*  Sir  E.  Sandy's  View  of  Religion  in  the  west.     Anno.  1613  p.  242. 
f  "  Nunquam  pileum  deponebant."    Baionius  de  Donat.  Constant,  and 
Valer.  Max.  i.  1  and  4. 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  99 

change  their  pantaloons  for  the  Quaker  breeches,  and  yield  up 
the  red  turban  to  the  broad  brim  of  black  beaver! 

The  charge  of  affectation,  in  ushering  in  singular  customs  and 
forms  of  dress  under  covert  of  religion,  has  not  been  the  severest 
trial  to  which  the  faith  of  the  Friends  was  subjected  in  older 
times.  No  small  portion  of  their  bodily  sufferings  was  originated 
by  their  zealous  adherence  to  an  item  of  their  religious  cere- 
monies connected  with  their  dress.  It  was  a  part  of  their  an- 
cient religious  ceremonies,  not  to  uncover  the  head  to  a  mortal 
man.  Hence  their  conscientious  and  most  scrupulous  refusal  to 
uncover  their  heads  before  magistrates  and  courts  of  justice. 
They  resisted  the  order  from  the  bench  to  uncover,  as  an  insult 
to  their  religious  creed  ;  as  a  wound  inflicted  on  a  tender  part  of 
their  conscience.  Hence  they  would  not  be  driven  from  their 
faith  and  practice  in  this  particular,  by  bonds  and  imprisonments. 
They  would  sooner  have  consented  to  lose  their  heads  than  to 
uncover  them  !* 

But  the  society  has  derived  benefits  from  the  peculiarity  of 
their  dress,  sufficient  to  out  balance  the  pains  of  martyrdom  for 
it.  The  circumstance,  trivial  as  it  may  appear  to  the  most  of 
christians,  who  devote  their  time  rather  to  the  cultivation  of  mind, 
than  to  the  arrangements  of  distinctive  dress,  has  been  one 
strongly  operating  cause  of  fixing  the  public  character  of  this 
sect. 

By  the  colour  and  shape  of  their  vestments,  they  proclaim 
their  religion  more  loudly  than  by  the  trumpet  of  the  Pharisee. 
They  exhibit  their  confession  of  faith,  in  their  front  and  in  their 
rear.  In  the  cut  and  colour  of  the  coat,  they  carry  their  reli- 
gious dogmata  into  the  street,  and  into  the  counting  house.  They 
hold  them  up  to  every  eye,  and  tell  them  in  every  ear.  They 
invite,  they  challenge  a  rigid  scrutiny  ;  and  the  world  does  fix 
a  keen  and  scrutinizing  eye  on  them.     It  searches  out,  with  an 

*  See  an  account  of  the  tragic  farce  of  Penn  and  Mead,  respecting  the 
duties  of  the  hat,  before  a  ve  y  tyrannical  court.  Penn's  works,  vol.  i.  ad 
nitium  :  and  Sc.wei,  vol.  ii.  p.  244.  The  late  king,  George  III.  when  he 
gave  audience  to  the  Friends,  took  care  to  save  their  honour,  and  spare 
his  own  feehngs,  by  stationing  an  extra  groom  of  the  chamber  at  the  door 
of  the  levet,  whose  duty  it  was  to  take  off  each  of  their  beavers  as  they 
approached  the  presence. — Clarkaon. 


100  •in  Historical  Dissertation. 

eagle-eye,  the  spots  on  their  consecrated  garments.  This  pro 
duces  a  deep  and  permanent  effect  on  their  members.  It  ope- 
rates on  a  well  known  principle  of  human  nature.  The  deport- 
ment of  the  student  arranged  in  his  well  known  garb  and  badge, 
and  of  the  soldier  when  bearing  the  uniform  and  arms  of  his 
country,  when  among  strangers,  is  rigid  and  virtuous ;  wdiile  the 
eye  of  the  public  is  intensely  fixed  on  them.  And  it  gradually 
relaxes,  as  the  public  notice  withih^aws  its  virtuous  stimulant. 
And  it  frequently  becomes  dissipated  as  they  merge  in  the  crowd 
of  common  dress,  and  ordinary  men.  Every  member,  conscious 
that  he  has  made  his  challenge  on  the  public  attention,  and  con- 
scious that  he  is,  according  to  the  tenor  of  this  challenge,  con- 
stantly watched,  is  on  his  guard.  He  is  always  in  an  attitude  of 
defence.  Hence  a  strict  eye  on  each  other's  deportment,  as 
well  as  their  own,  that  the  common  enemy  may  not  find  where- 
with to  reproach  the  faith.  Hence  their  coldness  and  distrust, 
and  distance,  and  jealousy  in  the  presence  of  strangers.  Hence 
the  indirect  and  ambiguous  style  in  conversation.  Hence  the 
sly  and  cautious  manner,  bordering  on  cunning,  which  have 
marked  their pu6/ic  character  in  all  countries;  especially,  where 
their  numbers  are  small.*  And  hence,  as  the  result,  under  all 
the  feelings  of  the  pride  of  party,  ingeniously  created  and  kept 
alive  by  the  shibboleth  of  speech  and  fraternal  livery,  they  keep 
themselves  fairly  separated  from  the  whole  world  ;  and  strongly, 
of  course,  devoted  to  their  own  sect. 

The  singularity  of  their  dress  operates  another  way.  The 
Friends  have  been  long  known  by  the  appellation  of  good  mo- 
ralists. Nay,  if  the  good  Clarkson  be  correct,  they  monopolize 
all  morality.  Their  dress  and  manners  bring  them  forth  from 
the  retired  walk,  in  which  other  christians  are  seen  to  pursue 
the  journey  of  life.  Hence,  they  are  presented  before  the  pub- 
lic eye  in  contrast,  not  Avith  the  religious  world,  w  ho,  by  their 

*  The  character  of  the  German  and  SrottiKh  Quaker,  is  very  different 
from  the  Philadelphian  Quaker.  The  latter  feehng  his  power,  and  trust- 
ing to  the  number  of  his  a  xiii;  lies,  kis  down  much  or  the  stern  manners 
of  olden  times.  The  fornv^r.  especially  the  Scotch  Quaker,  who  stands 
almost  single  handc  d,  in  a  country  where  metaphysics  drive  fanatacism 
over  Its  southern  border,  has  retained  the  ancient  public  character  most 
strongly  marked. 


Jin  Historical  Dissertation.  101 

dress,  are  merged  in  the  common  crowd,  but  with  the  whole  mass 
of  civil  society.  And  as  the  principles,  and  the  morals  of  the 
great  mass  of  mankind,  hear  little  of  the  impress  of  Christianity, 
and  much  of  moral  pollution,  the  society,  in  the  result  of  the  com- 
parison, has  stood  high  in  morals  with  the  superficial  observer. 

Those  founders  of  new  sects*  were  unquestionably  shrewd 
observers  of  human  nature ;  who,  in  devising  auxiliaries  to 
strengthen  their  society,  and  to  attach,  more  closely,  their  prose- 
lytes to  their  systems,  have  call.d  into  their  aid,  principles  that 
operate  on  the  propensities  and  vanity  of  the  human  mind.  What 
Mohammed  effected  by  the  trivial  rites  of  ablutions  of  water,  or 
sand,  and  by  prostrations  toward  Mecca,  and  by  pilgrimages ; 
that  Eustathius  did;  and  that  Fox  and  Penn  did,  in  their  way, 
by  a  distinctive  dress,  and  speech,  and  manners.  They  aspired 
to  the  same  lofty  origin,  the  special  command  of  heaven.  They 
had  the  same  object  in  view.  It  is  certain  they  do  have  the  same 
tendency.  The  devout  Arab  performs-liis  ablutions,  and  pros- 
trates himself  toward  Mecca ;  and  rises  with  unmeasurable  feel- 
ings of  pride  in  his  sect  •.  and  damns  the  whole  of  the  human 
family  who  are  not  moslem.  The  pious  Friend  looks  at  the  dress 
and  speech  of  his  sect,  unakerable  as  the  lav.'s  of  the  Medes  and 
Persians,  and  separates  himself  from  every  other  sect  in  the 
christian  world  ;  and  throws  barriers  in  the  way  of  communion 
with  them,  never  to  be  removed  by  him. 

§  23.  On  oaths. — The  society  is  distinguished  from  other 
christians  by  their  rejection  of  oaths.  The  members  of  the  Re- 
formed churches  when  called  to  give  testimony,  swear,  with  up- 
lifted hand,  by  the  name  of  God.  They  are  guided  in  this  by  the 
highest  authority.  "  Thou  shalt  swear  by  his  name."t  This  is 
a  section  of  the  moral  law.  For  there  are  three  duties  of  moral 
and  perpetual  obligations  set  down  by  it  in  the  same  verse. 
"  Thou  shalt  fear  the  Lord,  and  serve  him  :  and  cleave  unto  him, 

•  Fox  and  Penn  were  not  the  first  who  made  a  distinctive  dress  a  ne- 
cessary part  of  their  creed.  Among  others,  I  find  Eustathius  of  Sfbastia, 
the  leader  of  a  sect,  who  clothed  himself  and  his  followers  in  a  new  and 
fantastic  dress.  Socrat  Hist.  lib.  iii.  cap.  3.  See  also  in  Niceph.  Cal. 
Eccles.  Hist,  vol.i.  p.  796.  folio. 

t  Deut.  X.  20. 


102  *ln  Historical  Dissertation. 

"  and  swear  by  his  name."  The  patriarchs  gave  their  practical 
exposition  of  this  law  by  their  use  of  oaths.*  It  was  foretold  by 
an  ancient  prophet,  that  the  faithful  should,  in  the  new  testa- 
ment church,  "  swear  by  the  name  of  the  Lord."t  We  have  the 
highest  examples  set  before  us.  Almighty  God  sware  by  him- 
self. An  "•  angel  raised  his  hand  and  sware  by  him  that  liveth 
for  ever."J  Paul  used  this  form  in  writings  dictated  by  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  "  I  take  God  to  record  on  my  soul."§  An  oath  is  of  es- 
sential importance.  In  the  most  interesting  cases,  both  civil  and 
criminal,  it  is  the  only  means  by  which  truth  can  be  drawn  out. 
And  in  every  case  that  conies  before  a  court,  it  goes  farther  than 
any  other  means  to  separate  truth  from  falsehood,  and  educe  evi- 
dence. 

Nor  are  we  dragged  to  an  oath  with  reluctance.  The  chris- 
tian considers  it  as  a  solemn  act  of  worship.  In  an  oath,  which 
we  approach  with  deep  solemnity  and  reverence,  we  offer  hom- 
age to  the  divine  omniscience,  and  power,  and  justice.  In  fine, 
we  lay  these  two  precepts  together,  and  act  on  the  necessary 
eonclusion  drawn  out  of  them.  "  An  oath  of  the  Lord  shall  be 
''between  them  both  that  he  hath  not,  &c."  "  For  men  verily 
"  swear  by  the  greater ;  and  an  oath  for  confirmation's  sake  is 
"  an  end  of  all  strife."||  The  first  of  these  texts  puts  a  case  of 
necessity.  The  last  recognizes  "  an  oath"  as  a  well  known  duty. 
And  it  states  by  divine  authority,  the  beneficial  influence  of  an 
©ath  on  civil  society. 

The  prohibition  of  our  Lord,  and  that  of  James,  "  swear  not 
"at  all,  neither  by  heaven,  nor  by  the  earth,"  is  considered  by 
some  as  a  serious  objection.  Nay,  it  is  supposed  to  amount  to  a 
positive  repeal  of  oaths.  It  certainly  does  not.  It  is  an  emphatic 
exposition  of  the  third  precept  of  the  law  :  "  Thou  shalt  not  take 
the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain."  It  prohibits  all  profane 
eaths  in  conversation,  and  all  oaths  made  by  other  objects  than 
God.^     And,  finally,  we  put  this  question  with  emphasis  :  Does 

*  Gen.  xiv.  22.— Josh.  xiv.  9. — 1  Sam.  xx.  3. — 2  Kings,  ii.  2. 
f  Isaiah,  xix.  IS.  and  Ix  16. 
X  Heb   vi.  13 — Revel,  x.  5,  6. 
S  1  Corinth,  i.  23. 
II  Exod.  xxii.  11— Heb.  vi.  16. 

^  See  Ber.  de  Moor,  perpet.  Com.  in  Markii.  Comp.  vol.  v.  cap.  1?. 
sect.  12. 


Jin  Historical  Dissertation.  103 

the  prohibition  of  an  abuse  of  a  law,  abrogate  that  law  ?  Must 
we  refuse  obedience  to  the  command, "  thou  shalt  serve  the  Lord," 
because  others  abuse  their  mercies,  and  act  the  part  of  rebels? 
Must  we  refuse  to  "  swear  by  the  Lord  our  God,"  because  some 
do  swear  profanely,  and  because  that  profaneness  is  forbidden  ? 
If  we  act  on  this  principle  of  extermination,  we  shall  soon  anni- 
hilate the  authority  of  all  laws,  civil  and  divine. 

These  arguments  have  no  weight  with  the  society.  They  de- 
nounce all  oaths.  They  simply  affirm.*  The  ancient  Friends 
bequeathed  them  this  antipathy,  which  was  handed  down  to  them 
from  their  ancestors.  From  the  time  of  queen  Elizabeth,  great 
cruelty  had  been  exercised  under  the  arbitrary  measures  of  the 
bishops.  In  trials  they  were  authorized  to  tender  oaths,  ex  officio^ 
to  the  suspected  persons.  This  tyrannical  procedure  was  warmly 
opposed  :  the  citizens  and  puritan  ministers  opposed  these  oaths 
from  the  press  and  from  the  pulpit.  Much  Avas  written  against 
them  during  this  and  the  succeeding  reigns.  The  people,  as 
might  naturally  have  been  expected,  gradually  transferred  the 
arguments  from  particulars  to  generals  ;  they  argued  against  all 
kinds  of  oaths.  By  the  time  the  arguments  reached  the  hands 
©f  the  Friends,  (such  is  the  propensity  to  generalize  on  almost 
every  theory)  they  were  not  allowed  to  except  even  the  oath  au- 
thorized by  divine  authority :  "  the  oath  for  confrmaticm's  sake 
"  which  is  an  end  of  all  strife.''''  To  support  this  novel  doctrhte^ 
they  dragged  in  our  Saviour's  prohibition  of  profane  oaths.t 
Some  enlarged  their  proof  by  appealing  to  Plato,  who  advocates 
"  a  life  beyond  an  oath.^''l  And  they  ought  to  have  added,  that  it 
was  the  peculiar  prerogative  of  the  priests,  among  the  pagans,  to 

•  The  primitive  Quakers  admitted  the  substance  of  an  oath.  See  the 
Quaker's  Dialogue  with  Charles  II.  Sewel,  vol.  i.  p.  435.  Penn's  Oath, 
vol.  ii.  p  74. — Burroughs,  p.  622. 

■j-  Matth.v  34.  James  v  12  "  Swear  not  ♦'ia^,  07w?zmo,  at  all,  orby  any 
means.  It  is  an  adverb  oi  confirming*''  says  Sdileusner,  uot  v,{  extent. 
That  is,  let  nothing  induce  you  to  swear.  What  r"  namelv.  those  oaths  of 
■which  he  is  speaking;  "  by  heaven,  bv  the  earth."  Oaths  to  which  the 
politest  pagans  were  excessively  prone  in  conversation,  and  in  their  grav- 
est writings. 

X  Penn.  ii.  513.  who  quotes  Val.  Maxim.  2. 10.  and  also  Cicero  pro  Bal, 
Laert. 


104  An  Historical  Dissertation. 

be  exempted  from  an  oath.*  They  had  the  management  of  the 
divine  things:  they  had  free  access  to  the  holy  inspirations  of  the 
gods  :  a  distrust  of  their  word  was  inadmissible  :  they  were,  there- 
fore, allowed  a  simple  affirmation. 

It  is  certain,  that  Penn  has  grafted  his  doctrine  of  immunity 
from  oaths,  on  the  principle  of  Plato,  to  which  I  have  referred 
above.  Plato's  "  life  beyond  an  oath,'^  was  a  life  spent  under  the 
entire  guidance  of  the  light  excited  in  its  pure  flame  by  the  ca- 
thartic virtues.  The  man  being  perfect,  could  not  lie.  An  oath 
was  unnecessary.  Penn  models  the  argument  thus  :t  the  light, 
©r  Christ,  is  come :  he  came  to  put  an  end  to  sin ;  he  is  in  them ; 
he  has  put  an  end  to  sin  in  them  ;  they  are  perfect.  In  perfec- 
tion there  is  no  room  for  "  distrust  of  honesty."  Hence,  they 
cannot  swear.  To  urge  an  oath  on  them,  is  to  question  the  fact 
©f  their  perfection ;  and  to  insinuate  that  they  are  weak  sinners 
like  others.  I  will  not  conceal,  however,  that  a  German  divine, 
quoted  by  a  writer  of  the  society ,J  is  at  perfect  antipodes  with 
Penn,  on  this  article.  "  Those  heretics,''^  says  he,  "  who  will  not 
"  sicear^  are  like  the  devil.  He  is  not  known  to  have  ever  used  an  oath.'^ 
And  he  never  will.  Swearing  to  the  truth  is  a  solemn  public  act 
of  homage  to  Almighty  God. 

§  24. — On  war.  On  the  subject  of  offensive  war,  there  is  only 
one  opinion  among  christians.  It  cannot  be  advocated  on  chris- 
tian principles;  it  exhil)its  on  a  wide  field  what  the  robber  and 
the  assassin  does  on  a  limited  scale.  Their  moral  turpitude  is 
the  same.  There  is  only  this  difference,  that  the  atrocities  ot 
war  are  aggravated  in  the  ratio  of  the  violence,  murders,  and 
rapines  which  follow  in  its  train.  Ko  christian,  nor  even  pagan, 
can  pretend  to  jwstify  offensive  war-  But  the  Society,  through 
an  excess  of  zeal,  proceed  to  the  extremity  of  advocating  non- 
re;^istance.  Defensive  war  is,  in  their  opinion,  in  all  cases  un- 
lawful. 

All  that  the  society  has  advanced  on  this  topic,  hardly  amounts 

*  Phitarch  quoted  by  Bitrnnius,  (De  Donatione  Constantini  Magni.) 
Anno.  3'24  nuni   79,  and  Durham  on  Kevel.  vol.  ii  p.  425. 
•{-  Vol.  ii.  loO.  488,  489,  796.  and  l>:ir  prop,  on  this  article. 
t  Stubbs,p.  157.  of  "  Light  shining,"  i>cc. 


tin  Historical  Dissertation.  105 

to  elegant  declamation :  and  whatever  force  it  has,  it  operates 
only  on  one  branch  of  the  subject,  and  wholly  in  favour  of  our 
opinion.  War  is  cruel :  it  is  horrible.  Man  warring  against 
man  exhibits  a  brutal  ferocity :  the  deeds  are  disgraceful  even 
to  the  savage  :  they  outstrip  the  ferocious  deeds  of  the  lions  of 
the  forest.  These  offer  no  violence  to  their  own  species.  But 
the  greatest  enemy  of  mankind  is  man.  What  a  spectacle  of 
horror  is  presented  on  a  field  of  battle,  and  in  the  sacking  of  a 
city  !  What  feeling  heart  does  not  shudder  at  it !  What  man 
of  principle  does  not  abhor  it !  Can  a  christian  advocate  war 
which  fills  the  world  with  so  much  misery  !  All  this  is  very  true  ; 
and  every  sentiment  is  clearly  supported  by  the  passages  of  holy 
writ  usually  quoted  for  authority.*  But  it  is  not  in  point;  it  does 
not  touch  the  question  under  discussion.  It  is  merely  a  decla- 
mation against  offensive  war ;  and  those  demons  in  human  form 
who  bring  it.  The  guilt  of  this  must  certainly  rest  somewhere. 
It  cannot  rest  on  those  who  ward  oft'  the  execrable  evil  from  their 
own  heads  and  the  heads  of  those  under  their  protection.  It 
must  rest  only  on  those  who  bring  the  war. 

While,  therefore,  I  am  willing  to  go  all  the  length  of  the  so- 
ciety, in  denouncing  offensive  war,  I  ask  them,  in  return,  to  fol- 
low me  in  the  arguments  in  favour  of  defensive  war. 

The  Almighty  has  written  a  lav/  on  our  hearts,  which  impels 
us  to  self-defence.  This  is  something  distinct  from  the  spirit  of 
revenge,  or  a  criminal  indulgence  of  the  passions.  It  is  a  univer- 
sal principle ;  it  cannot  be  eradicated  from  the  bosom,  until  reason 
and  judgment  be  hurled  from  their  seat,  and  their  influence  over 
us  is  lost.  To  oppose  defensive  measures,  is  to  oppose  a  law  of  our 
nature,  impressed  on  every  heart  by  the  hand  of  Omnipotence. 

The  precept  that  determines  the  moralily  of  an  action,  is  un- 
changeable as  the  throne  of  Deity,  whence  it  comes.  If,  by  a 
divine  command,  war  was  made  lawful  four  thousand  years  ago, 
it  must  be  lawful  now.  Who  gave  the  command  to  Moses  to 
fight  against  Amalck,  when  he  brought  war  against  his  people  ?t 


*  James  iv.  1,  &c. 

■j-  Exod.  xvii.  16.     It  cannot  be  pretended  that  this  is  a  part  of  the 
ceremonial  law. 

17 


106  *in  Historical  Dii-isertation, 

Who  was  the  "  captain  of  the  Lord's  host,"  under  whom  Joshua 
carried  ou  war  in  Canaan,  against  the  nations  who  had  rebelled 
against  God  ?  Are  we  prepared  to  accuse  a  prophet  of  the  Lord, 
who,  under  divine  inspiration,  roused  his  country's  arms  against 
the  encroaching  foe  ?* 

If  the  law  of  God  has  declared  that  the  man  "  who  provides  not 
for  his  vwn  house^  has  denied  the  faith  and  is  worse  than  an  infide^'' 
what,  according  to  that  law,  must  be  the  aggravation  of  that  man's 
guilt,  who,  on  the  theory  of  non-resistance,  declares  that  he  will 
not  defend  the  property  of  his  family  from  the  robber,  nor  their 
lives  from  the  violence  of  the  murderer  ?  Something  greatly 
worse  than  infidel ! 

Are  we  prepared  to  say  that  the  arts  of  the  King  of  Zion  need 
our  apology?  He  has  fought ;  he  does  fight ;  and  he  will  fight, 
at  the  head  of  his  angels,  against  the  assaults  of  the  dragon  who 
dares  to  invade  his  church,  and  to  carry  violence  into  his  sanc- 
tuary.! 

Defensive  war  began  in  heaven.  When  Satan  and  his  angels 
rebelled,  the  Almighty  vindicated  his  honour,  and  supported  his 
government.  He  hurled  the  rebels  from  the  battlements  of 
heaven,  and  he  retains  them  in  chains  of  darkness.  During  six 
thousand  years,  he  has  been  defending  his  church  against  the 
assaults  of  hell.  Such  high  authority  have  we  for  defensive  war. 
But  on  the  principle  of  non-resistance,  Satan  would  still  have  been 
in  heaven  ! 

The  principle  of  non-resistance,  taken  in  a  political  view,  has 
a  dangerous  tendency.  Laws  are  necessary  not  only  to  the  well 
being,  but  the  very  existence  of  a  state.  A  penalty  is  essentially 
necessary  to  a  law.  Remove  the  penalty,  and  the  law  sinks  into 
the  ineffective  form  of  a  petition.  A  penalty  ought  to  be  of  suf- 
ficient weight:  the  evil  falling  on  the  head  of  the  offender,  should 
be  greater  than  the  good  which  he  could  promise  to  himself  from 

*  Jerem.  iclviii.  10.  Serious  discussions  have  taken  place  on  these  his- 
torical and  doctrinal  passages  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  among  the  leading 
Friends,  particularly  in  Ireland  ;  and  the  opinion  openly  avowed  that  they 
ought  to  be  expunged.  See  a  specimen  of  these  discussions  in  Rathbone's 
■Narrative,  p.  50,53. — and  his  ai^pendix,  No.  2. 

1  Rev.xii.  7. 


An  Historical  Dissertation,  107 

the  breach  of  the  law.  If  this  be  not  so,  then  temptation  is  held 
out  to  crime  ;  the  infliction  of  the  penalty  ought  to  be  imperious 
and  rigid.  If  it  does  appear  that  the  magistrate  is  not  invested 
with  sufficient  power,  or  that  there  is  a  possibility  of  the  penalty 
being  set  aside,  a  high  temptation  is  held  out  to  crime :  hence  the 
magistracy  must  have  every  facility  of  executing  the  law,  and 
enforcing  the  penalty  ;  and,  hence,  they  must  be  supported  by 
the  arm  of  power  against  any  combination  of  criminals.  If  they 
are  not,  what  security  have  we  for  life,  liberty  or  property  ?  The 
principle  of  non-resistance  denies  to  the  magistrate  all  the  means 
of  compulsion  :  it  denies  him  guards  ;  it  denies  him  weapons ;  it 
bids  him  go  on  in  the  execution  of  the  laws ;  but  he  must  go  on 
peaceably.  Well !  but  what  if  the  criminals  may  not  permit  him 
to  go  on  peaceably  ?  What  if  they  combine  and  resist  ?  They  tear 
themselves  from  the  grasp  of  those  who  would  lecture,  them  into 
obedience ;  and  who  are  beseeching  them  to  be  so  good  as  to 
submit  to  the  sentence  of  the  law.  They  arm  themselves  ;  they 
offer  violence  ;  a  whole  neighbourhood  of  Quakers  is  brought  in ; 
the  question  is  emphatically  put  to  them :  you  see  the  tumult ; 
what  must  be  done  ?  The  criminals  are  violent;  they  are  deaf 
to  all  reason  or  persuasion.  Must  the  laws  be  insulted  ?  must  the 
bench  retreat?  must  the  court  be  dispersed?  must  the  citizens 
perish  by  the  weapons  in  the  hands  of  these  unprincipled  men? 
Ves !  say  the  stern  advocates  of  non-resistance  ;  all  this  must  be  : 
we  will  not  try  to  prevent  it.  Nothing  then  can  save  the  state 
from  ruin,  unless  one  of  two  things  shall  take  place.  Either  the 
criminals  being  struck  with  yjity,  will  throw  down  their  arms,  set 
up  the  court,  recall  the  judges,  and  with  a  sudden  docility  of  man- 
ners, bow  down  and  receive  the  sentence  of  the  law,  from  pure 
love  of  good  order,  or  the  judge,  accompanied  by  the  proper  of- 
ficers, will  arm  his  guards,  and  reduce  the  criminals  to  obedience. 
Such  is  the  dangerous  tendency  of  this  tenet  of  the  society,  in 
a  political  view.  It  tends  directly  to  produce  anarchy  and  ruin  ; 
but  Holy  Providence  seldom  permits  an  error  to  creep  into  the 
world,  without  sending  after  it  some  powerful  guardian  of  truth, 
to  paralyze  its  arm,  or  to  check  its  influence ;  or  he  leaves  it 
to  its  native  violence,  to  bend  its  bow  till  it  breaks.     And  thus 


108  dn  Historical  Dissertation. 

the  intended  victim  escapes.  This  is  emphatically  the  case  with 
this  principle ;  its  destructive  tendency  is  so  glaring,  that  it  has 
utterly  defeated  itself;  it  is  incapable  of  any  general  practical 
application.  Hence,  even  the  society  cannot  act  on  it,  but  in  so 
partial  a  manner,  that  they  cannot  be  said  to  adhere  to  their 
theory.  They  do  admit  of  laws  and  penalties  ;  they  do  admit  of 
magistrates,  and  sentences,  and  punishments ;  they  do  admit  of 
chains  and  dungeons ;  they  do  admit  of  force  and  arms  in  our 
state  prisons. 

''  But  ij"  our  principles  of  non-resistance  zoere  knozvn,  we  should  not 
■be  attacked.^  This  advances  the  extravagant  idea,  that  the  mur- 
derer  will  not  injure  the  good  man,  nor  the  weak;  nor  him  who 
has  no  intention  of  defending  himself:  that  he  will  attack  only  the 
brave  and  the  fighting  man.  "  But  Holy  Providence  interferes^  in 
a  special  manner^  in  our  behalf ;  and  wards  off  the  violence  of  the  wick- 
ed.'"' Providence  brings  to  pass  his  purposes  by  means ;  to  ex- 
pect them  without  the  use  of  means,  is  to  expect  miracles  when 
there  is  no  necessity  for  them.  Besides,  if  it  be  wrong  fot'  a 
Quaker  to  defend  himself, /lozo  can  he  justify  Providence  in  defendr 
ing  him  from  violent  men?  But  no  Quaker  ever  acted  on  this  prin- 
ciple ;  and  we  will  pledge  that  law,  which  God  has  written  on  his 
heart,  as  the  guarantee  that  he  never  will  risk  his  life  or  his  gold 
in  support  of  it ;  he  will  act  as  the  English  Quaker  did  when  as- 
saulted by  a  robber.  The  man  of  non-resistance  caught  him  in 
his  brawny  arms,  and  thus  harangued  him ;  and  closed  the  farce 
hy  a  tragedy :  "  I  will  not  offer  violence  to  thy  body ;  nor  will  I 
shed  thy  blood  :  but  /  will  hold  thee  in  this  pond,  until  thee  shall 
be  incapable  of  doing  any  violence  to  an  innocent  man!" 

The  principle  of  non-resistance  has  a  dangerous  moral  tenden- 
cy. It  has,  indeed,  the  aspect  of  virtue,  and  of  abhorrence  of  all 
violence ;  and  it  is  a  holy  principle,  so  far  as  it  is  applied  to  offen- 
sive war.  But  try  it,  on  the  true  question  of  defensive  war;  bring 
the  arguments  and  declamation  of  the  society  to  bear  upon  those 
who  defend  their  lives,  liberty  and  propertj^  It  contradicts  the 
common  sense  of  mankind ;  it  resists  the  impulse  of  the  first  law 
of  our  nature  ;  it  contradicts  the  holy  laws  of  morality ;  it  pleads 
(hat  violence  may  not  be  repelled  ;  it  pleads  for  the  removal  of 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  109 

every  barrier  before  the  march  of  crime,  when  it  appears  in  a 
formidable  array  of  armed  men  ;  it  pleads  for  a  license  to  them 
to  go  the  full  length  of  their  violence.  If  the  robber  assail  you ; 
if  the  assassin  break  into  jouv  chamber,  the  weapons  of  self-de* 
fence  must  be  wrested  out  of  your  hands ;  you  must  not  strike  the 
arm  that  is  raised  to  lay  your  wife  and  jour  infants  bleeding 
carcases  beside  your  own  !  If  a  foreign  enemy  pour  its  legions  on 
your  shores  to  rob  you  of  your  country,  your  liberty,  and  all  that 
is  dear  to  man,  you  must  not  fight.  U  entreaties  fail,  you  must 
surrender  all  into  their  hands. 

"  But  this  could  not  take  place,  if  all  men  would  embrace  their  prin- 
ciples.'^ This  is  no  argument ;  if  you  think  so,  do  not  trouble  the 
world  with  a  wild  impracticable  theory.  If  a  principle  is  brought 
forward,  which  professes  to  meliorate  the  condition  of  man,  it 
ought  not  to  rest  on  a  Utopian  base.  It  ought  not  to  be  contrived 
to  suit  man  in  Paradise  ;  it  ought  to  assume  the  fact,  that  nian  is 
what  he  is.  But,  until  the  species  be  regenerated,  there  will  be 
violent  men:  there  will  be  robbers:  there  will  be  murderers: 
there  will  be  unprincipled  statesmen  at  the  helm  of  government. 
It  is  of  little  use  to  tell  them,  that  they  ought  to  be  good  vien  ;  and  to 
have  better  principles.  It  is  silly  to  argue,  that  because  there 
ought  to  be  no  violent  and  unjust  men,  therefore,  there  ought  to 
be  no  defensive  zcar.  It  is  a  miserable  sophism.  You  tell  us  there 
ought  to  be  no  violence  and  injustice ;  there  ought  to  be  no  cause 
for  self-defence  ;  and  because  there  ought  to  be  none,  therefore, 
there  is  no  cause  for  self-defence.  This  is  the  total  amount  of  the 
argument  against  defensive  war.  Now,  if  we  take  human  nature 
as  it  is  ;  if  we  admit  the  fact,  that  there  will  be  violent  men,  whose 
vicious  propensities  will  hurry  them  into  violence ;  and  if,  with 
these  facts  before  our  eyes,  we  do  advocate  the  principle  of  non- 
resistance,  we  are  advocating  a  principle  of  immoral  and  danger- 
ous tendency.  We  are  saying  to  the  robber,  we  will  not  set 
bounds  to  your  crimes  ;  to  the  murderer,  you  may  take  away  the 
lives  of  many  with  impunity,  to  the  unprincipled  statesman,  you 
may  trample  on  our  national  rights,  and  take  away  our  liberty  • 
we  shall  not  defend  them.  This  is  not  merely  sajing,  let  the 
world  be  as  wicked  as  it  may  be,  I  will  not  iisa.my  influence  to 


110  ^In  Historical  Dissertation. 

diminish  one  crime.  It  says,  let  it  become  as  wicked  as  the  most 
abandoned  men  can  make  it,  1  shall  not  throw  up  one  barrier  to 
impede  the  march  of  crime.  If  every  good  man  were  to  act  on 
this  principle  of  non-resistance,  moral  pollution  would  speedily 
be  increased  a  thousand  fold :  if  a  nation  were  to  adopt  it  unani- 
mously, the  consequences  would  be  dreadful.  Human  nature  is 
depraved  in  all  nations;  wars  will  come;  the  age  of  miracles  is 
past ;  Providence  does  work  by  means.  If  that  nation  did  not  de- 
fend itself,  it  would  soon  exhibit  a  scene  fit  for  the  most  tragic 
muse ;  lire  would  lay  waste  its  cities  and  towns,  and  hamlets  ;  law- 
less brigands  would  bring  on  our  families  ruin  worse  than  death ; 
the  sword  would  sweep  her  population  into  the  grave,  or  into 
slavery  !  Such  is  the  tendency  of  this  pretty,  but  romantic,  theory 
of  non-resistance  !* 

But  the  society  did  not  arrive,  all  at  once,  at  this  singular  item 
in  their  system.  Extraordinary  as  it  may  appear,  I  mean  to  the 
modern  Quakers,  it  is  a  fact,  that  from  the  rise  of  the  society,  to 
the  year  1 660,  the  Friends  did  advocate  zcar,  and  many  of  them 
zoere  in  the  army.  The  pages  of  Burroughs  and  of  Fox,  even  after 
the  licentious  liberties  of  modern  editors  in  altering  and  expung- 
ing passages,  do  still  afibrd  us  {)roof.  The  former  exhorted  the 
Protector  to  war  against  the  Pope.  "  Let  thy  soldiers  go  forth 
with  a  willing  heart.*"!  The  same  war  spirit  is  breathed  in  his 
address  to  the  English  army  at  Dunkirk. J  Fox  wrote  an  "  address 
to  the  conncll  of  officers.''''  He  tells  them  what  they  might  have 
done,  had  they  been  faithful.  They  might  have  taken  Rome, 
and  put  down  the  Pope :  they  might  next  have  subdued  the  Turks, 
and  put  down  Mahomet.  He  then  laments,  that  many  excellent 
officers  and  soldiers  were  thrust  out  of  the  army  by  the  Protec- 


*  The  practice  of  the  society  has  often  done  violence  to  their  own  theo- 
ry. The  laws  demand,  that  we  defend  onr  country  ;  or  pay,  to  aid 
in  this  gieat  object.  The  Q  rikers  rcfu-e  to  pay  this  miiitiu  fine  or  tax. 
They  resist  the  law  even  to  bodily  pains.  It  does  seem  very  absurd,  to 
say  that  thev  practise  non-resistance.  They  resist  to  support  the  doctrine 
of  non-resistance. 

■j-  "  Good  counsel  rejected,"  p.  26,  27,  36,  37.  and  Quak.  Unmasked, 
p.  4. 

t  See  Burroughs'  Works  ;  fol.  p.  So5,  540.  and"  Snake," &c.  Edit.  2. 
p.  229,  &c. 


dii  Historical  Dissertation,  111 

tor,  merely  for  using  "  ihou  and  ihee^''  and  for  wearing  iheir  hats.* 
And  in  another  place,  he  speaks  of"  the  righteous  end  of  the  war^ 
for  liberty  and  /aa!."t  To  these,  we  may  add  the  names  of  Penn 
and  his  kinsman,  the  amiable  Pennington ;  they  certainly  were 
not  decidedly  opposed  to  defensive  war.X  Penn  reaped  a  goodly 
harvest  from  his  father's  military  and  naval  glory.  If  he  had 
been,  in  principle,  decidedly  opposed  lo  war,  his  conscience  m.ust 
have  been  ill  at  ease  from  the  reflection,  that  all  his  wealth  and 
luxuries  were  the  purchase  of  military  services.  But  his  con- 
science was  at  ease;  he  approved  of  his  father's  deeds,  he  de- 
fended his  oflke  and  station ;  he  did  approve  of  defensive  war  in 
the  following  words :  "  he  was  employed,"  says  he,  respecting  his 
father,  admiral  Penn^  "  he  was  emploj^ed  in  the  preservation  of 
the  countrj'^  from  the  rapes  and  spoils  of  foreigners. ''§ 

But  after  the  restoration,  when  they  could  no  longer  indulge 
the  hope  of  the  downfall  of  Episcopacy,  they  shielded  themselves 
behind  the  principle  of  non-resistance.  And,  as  a  society,  they 
have  advocated  it  to  this  day. 

But  there  have  been  some  collisions  between  their  theory  and 
their  practice.  When  Philadelphia  was  joung,  the  magistracy 
was  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Friends  ;  its  port  could  boast  of 
only  one  sloop.  A  band  of  pirates  coming  up  the  river,  carried 
oft' the  sloop.  What  did  the  society  do?  The  faith  and  constan- 
cy of  the  London  Quakers,  never  met  with  such  a  trial.  It  is  an 
easy  matter  to  be  virtuous  where  there  are  no  temptations.  Did 
the  society  become  confessors  and  martyrs  to  their  principle? 
Verily,  no !  Their  magistracy  issued  commissions  ;  they  raised  an 
armed  band ;  they  retook  their  sloop,  and  made  the  banditti  pri- 
soners. It  is  curious,  to  see  how  the  historians  of  the  society, 
wriggle  and  twist,  under  the  difficult  digestion  of  this  morsel  of 
their  history.     They  admit  the  fact,  that  the  sloop  was  forcibly 

•  See  p.  5,  6.  anct.  edit.  See  also  Bugg's  Pict.  p.  50,  Snake  in  the 
Grass,  p.  210.  and  edit.  2.  p.  207  and  208. 

I  Fox's  West  answering  the  North,  p.  16.  and  102.  and  Snake,  &c.  p. 
221.  and  edit.  2.  p.  218. 

X  Penn,  vol.i.  p.  146.  and  Pennington,  vol.  i.  227.  His  "  Address  to 
the  Army."  See  Penn's  Froject  for  securing  the  peace  of  Europe  :  He 
admits  the  retaining  of  '■'^  forces^'  &c.     Sect.  4,  5,  9,  in  vol.  ii.  p.  841, 842. 

§  Vol.  ii.p.  451. 


112  An  Historical  Dissertation. 

taken  awaj^  and  that  it  was  recovered.  But  they  pretend  that 
no  arms  were  used  ;  that  there  was  no  fighting.*  This  contradicts 
the'  account  given  by  men  of  probity,  and  who  had  access  to 
know  all  the  truth.!  And  besides,  it  is  highly  improbable.  Can 
any  man  believe,  that  a  strong  banditti,  who  had  possession  of 
the  sloop  in  the  river,  would  be  moved  by  the  sight  of  their  pur- 
suers, to  sit  down  and  hear  a  Quaker  seraion  ;  and  that  they 
would  be  instantaneously  moved  to  grant  their  petitions,  to  restore 
them  the  sloop,  and  submit  their  necks,  like  good  hearted 
citizens,  to  the  sentence  of  the  law?  Pirates  never  possessed  such 
sensibility,  nor  such  disinterested  love  of  good  order  !t 

The  government  of  Pennsylvania  had,  by  an  act  of  William 
and  Mary,  been  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  Penn.  It  was,  on  his 
petition,  restored  to  him,  on  certain  conditions.  These  were,  that 
he  should  secure  and  defend  the  place  :  that  he  should  send  80 
soldiers  to  Albany,  when  called  for,  to  aid  in  the  war  against  the 
Indians:  or  find  monej^  to  pay  that  number.  To  these  condi- 
tions he  acceded. §  In  A.  D.  1701,  Penn,  in  his  speech  to  the 
assembly  of  this  state,  exhorts  them  to  take  measures  for  their 
defence.  He  laid  before  them  the  king's  letter,  demanding  mo- 
ney to  aid  in  carrying  on  the  war  against  the  Indians  of  New 
York.  Penn  recommended  that  the  sum  be  granted  by  the  as- 
sembly.|| 

In  the  year  1 7G4,  when  the  affairs  of  the  Paxton  volunteers 

agitated  the  public  mind,  the  Quakers  of  Philadelphia  manifested 
this  spirit  of  Penn.  They  opposed  the  measures  of  those  who 
wished  to  treat  with  the  "  Paxton  boys."  They  urged,  "  that 
they  had  force  sufficient  to  repel  them,  or  even  to  kill  them.-'^ 

*  Gough.  iii.  p.  341. 

f  See  Keith's  Appeal,  and  the  Reply  of  the  Society.  See  also  the 
"  Snake,"  edit.  2-  and  p.  201. 

X  See  another  case  :  the  recovery  of  a  ship,  commanded  by  a  Quaker, 
from  the  Turks.     Sewel,  vol.  ii.  book  vii.  pp.  ~4,  80. 

§  See  the  letter  from  Philadelphia,  dated  1695,  pubhshed  in  London 
•while  Penn  was  there.  Leslie  in  the  "  Snake,"  &c.  appeals  to  it.  p.  241, 
or  p.  237.  edit.  2. 

tl  Vol.i.  p.  146,  8cc. 

1!  See  "  The  Quaker  Unmasked,"  p.  7.  no.  1007.  Duod.  Tract.  7. 
Philad.  Library,  and  a  book  called"  a  Trumpet  Sounded  out  of  the  Wil- 
derness of  America."  See  a  MS.  in  Philad.  Libr.  no.  1413,  vol.  i.  quarto. 
p.  23. Y. 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  113 

Their  warlike  preparations,  which  are  remembered  in  this  city 
to  this  day,  and  which  I  have  heard  detailed  by  the  most  re- 
spectable citizens,  evinced  a  determination  to  carry  their  pur- 
poses into  effect.  But  the  favourable  issue  of  a  treaty,  prevented 
the  Quakers  from  resisting  and  kiUing  these  hot  headed  volun- 
teers. And  in  different  periods,  those  members  of  the  society 
who  were  chosen  representatives  in  the  state  legislature,  or  in 
congress,  have,  at  the  call  of  their  country,  voted  for  war  meas- 
ures.* 

In  fine,  only  one  thing  has  saved  the  existence  of  the  society. 
They  have  had  their  brave  fellow-citizens  to  fight  in  their  de- 
fence. And  one  thing  has  saved  the  existence  of  this  article  of 
their  faith.  The  government  of  Pennsylvania  was  taken  out  of 
their  hands.  Had  they  possessed  the  chair  of  state,  and  the 
offices  of  the  magistracy  in  that  great  commonwealth,  there  would 
not  have  been,  this  day,  a  Quaker  who  would  advocate  the  prin- 
ciple of  non-resistance.  They  would  either  have  surrendered 
the  state  to  an  invading  enemy,  or  have  advocated,  by  martial 
deeds,  the  lawfulness  of  defensive  war.  Thus  the  society  owe 
their  existence,  political,  to  the  advocates  of  defensive  war.  But 
for  them,  as  Voltaire  said,  "  they  had  been  devoured  and  annihi- 
lated.'' 

§  25.  .The  Friends  have  been  a  divided  people.  The  fanati- 
cism of  Milner,  Naylor,  and  Toldervy  created  serious  troubles. 
Those  Liberales,  who,  pursuing  exclusively  the  dictates  of"  the 
spirit,"  undervalued  the  Holy  Bible,  ci-eated  still  more.  These 
arose,  by  fair  consequence,  out  of  the  principles  of  the  society. 
The  fanatics  only  reduced  into  practice,  by  a  daring  hand,  what 
the  society  held  in  theory  about  a  real  Christ  in  every  man.  The 
establishment  of  their  discipline  produced  a  schism,  which,  as  far 
as  I  can  trace  in  their  history,  is  perpetuated  to  thisday.t     Fox 

•  In  1674,  see  "Quaker  Unmasked,''  p.  9.  and  in  1815,  the  member 
from  Germantown  voted  for  the  war  measures.  These  may  have  been 
expelled.  But  this  shows  what  their  wise  men  will  do,  when  brought  into 
collision  with  their  duty  as  citizens.  In  A.  D.  1741,  Samuel  Chew,  a  Qua- 
ker, advocated,  from  the  bench,  the  doctrine  of  self-defence.  See  a  cu- 
rious MS.  no.  1413,  in  the  Philad.  Libr.  p.  2.  3.  W.  volume  i.  quarto.  See 
his  defence  also  in  Pennsyl.  Gazet.  no.  690 

f  See  Ra1;libone's  Narrative.  ' 

18 


114  An  Historical  Dissertation. 

instituted  their  form  of  ecclesiastical  government,  not  under  au- 
thority derived  from  the  Holy  Scriptures,  but  "  by  the  counsel 
and  power  of  God  ;"*  and  the  yearly  meeting  of  Ireland,  so  latp 
as  A.  D.  1802,  recognized  this  divine  right  of  their  government.t 
The  party  who  opposed  Fox  insisted  that  they  had,  in  common 
with  their  brethren,  the  infalhble  guide  in  their  bosom  ;  and  they 
could  not  be  subjected  to  any  discipline.  The  Foxites  insisted, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  the  spirit  in  the  individual  ought  to  sub- 
mit to  the  spirit  and  universal  wisdom  of  the  society  :\  the  other  par- 
ty replied,  "  you  tell  us  that  services  done  without  the  motion  of 
the  spirit  are  accursed;  andyou  condemn  us  when  we  have  not  only 
no  motion  for  this,  but  a  positive  impulse  of  the  spirit  against 
it."§  The  female  meetings  for  discipline  were  another  source  of 
bitter  contention.||  A  strong  party  opposed  them  as  utterly  im- 
pertinent. They  denounced,  in  strong  terms,  the  innovation  of 
petticoat  church  government  and  female  popes  :  they  were  for- 
mally excommunicated,  and  in  their  turn  they  undauntingly 
hurled  their  anathema  at  the  heads  of  their  opposers:  they  mu- 
tually employed  the  most  abusive  terms  :1[  "  they  were  impos- 
tors and  demons."  "  It  was  Judas  and  the  Jews  against  Christ :" 
and  as  a  witty  author,**  a  cotemporary,  remarked,  "  both  parties 
being  persons  of  honour,  we  ought  to  believe  both." 

A.  D.  1661. — A  violent  dissention  arose  in  the  society  respect- 
ing the  orthodox  use  of  the  hat.  Every  Quaker  must  have  heard 
of  Muckalow  and  his  book^"  the  spirit  of  the  hat.''''  It  appeared  in 
defence  of  sitting  covered  in  time  of  prayer :  for  why  not  then  as 
well  as  during  the  other  parts  of  worship !  Penn  entered  the  lists 
against  this  hero  of  the  hat ;  he  reminded  him  that  he  had  once  ap- 
proved of  the  custom  of  the  society,  and  had  tasted  "  comfort  from 
prayers  that  came  through  an  uncovered  head :"  and  forthwith  de- 
nounced him  as  convicted  of  heretical  pravity.tt  The  party  who 
were  drawn  up  under  the  banner  of"  the  spirit  of  the  hat,''''  issued 
their  manifesto  that "  what  they  did  was  by  immediate  inspiration." 

•  Jour.  ii.  p.  85,  215,  &c.  f  Rath.  Nar.  p.  12. 

X  See  the  Quaker  '« Barbadoes  Judgment,"  quoted  in  "  Snake  in  the 
Grass,"  p.  68,  edit.  3. 

§  Penn  ii.  p.  539,  and  Hick's  Repl.  Dial.  p.  64. 

II  A.  U.  lerr.  «  Pcnn  ii.  189,  199  and  774.  *♦  Leslie. 

ft  Penn's  •'  Spirit  of  Alex,  the  Cojjpersinith,  &c  " 


An  Historical  Dissertatio)i.  115 

Perot,  the  leader  of  the  van,  "  had  received  a  command  from  the 

Lord  of  heaven  and  earth  to  war  against taking  off  the  hat ;" 

and  in  opposing  him,  therefore,  they  were  opposing  the  spirit. 
Penn  and  his  party  replied  that  "  the  Lord  had  given  to  the 
church"  (he  meant  the  great  body  of  the  Friends,)  an  infallible 
spirit  to  discern  spirits  ;  and  as  they  had  discerned  and  judged 
them,  they  had  justly  cast  them  out.  To  this,  they  replied,  that 
"  as  the  light  within  was  the  perfect  and  sufficient  guide  to  each ; 
as  Penn  made  the  body  of  the  society  to  bear  sway  over  the  light 
in  each  ;  therefore,  not  the  light  within  but  the  body  was  become 
the  Quaker's  rule."  How  was  such  a  dispute  to  be  settled  ?  Each 
of  the  parties  was  equally  inspired  ;  each  professed  to  be  the  fa- 
vourite of  heaven.  "  Hie  labor,  hoc  opus  est.^''  A  grand  meeting 
was  summoned.  "  Prayers  were  made  with  weighty  groans  and 
tremblings,  that  the  Lord  would  break  forth  among  them,  in  a 
signal  manner."  In  all  ordinary  cases,  the  rule  of  Horace  would 
have  been  religiously  acted  upon.  "  JV*e  Deus  intersit  nisi  dignus 
■vindice  nodus.''''  But  here  were  two  inspired  bodies  vehemently 
contending — whether  the  hat  should  be  put  off,  or  whether  the  hal 
should  be  put  on,  during  prayers.  Their  cries  were  heard  ;  their 
spirit  interfered ;  "  he  rent  through  the  meeting ;"  both  sides  were 
•greatly  humbled ;  "  and  many  with  such  bodily  tremblings,  as  (it 
may  well  be  credited)  filled  the  beholders  with  astonishment,  de- 
clared from  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  against  the  '  spirit  of  the 
hat.'  "  Penn  and  his  party  prevailed,  and  a  decree  was  issued 
in  the  following  words  :  "  It  hath  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost, 
«md  to  us,  in  the  performance  of  solemn  public  prayer  to  the  Lord,  to 
pull  off  our  hats,''''  i^c. :  and  as  this  practice  is  dedicated  to  divine 
service,  it  must  not  be  prostituted  to  human  uses. 

"  Quid  (lignum  tanto  fevet  hie  promissor  hiatu  ? 

"  Parturiunt  monies  ;  nascetur  ridiculus  mus  !"*  HoR. 

These  disputes  issued  in  a  rupture.    Hence  the  two  rival  sor 

*  See  Rich's  "Epist.  to  the  seven  churches,  A.  D.  1680."  Bugg'sPict. 
of  Quakerism,  p.  263.  Sixty-seven  country  Quakers  were  pitted  against 
sixty-six  Quakers  of  London.  See  also  Penn  ii.  189,  207,  208,  209,  and 
774.  edit.  fol.  1726.  "  Snake,"  p.  71,  ed.  2.— and  «'  the  Spirit  of  the  Hat," 
p.  11 — and  its  "  Defence."  The  decree  was  issued  in  the  Avords  of  Penn 
above  recited.    See  vol.  ii.  p.  207  of  his  works,  folio. 


1 16  dn  Historical  Dissertation. 

cieties  of  Harplano  and  Grace-street  church  in  London.  In  the 
progress  of  these  contentions,  a  party  arose,  who  carried  the 
principles  of  one  of  these  sects  into  their  full  length.  The  one 
had  reasoned  that  as  each  had  his  Christ  in  him,  there  was  no 
need  for  discipline :  the  new  sect  argued  that  on  the  same  principle 
there  can  be  no  real  necessity  for  meetings  for  worship.  We 
have  the  perfect  rule  in  us ;  why  should  we  meet  in  public,  to 
give  or  to  receive  instruction  from  any  man  ?  Shackleton  and  his 
adherents  in  Ireland,  have  lately  revived  this  idea,  and  have 
created  serious  troubles  in  the  body  in  that  country.* 

Near  the  close  of  the  17th  century,  the  Kcithian  controversy 
arose :  it  aifected  one  of  the  most  important  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity. In  the  year  1692,  Keith,  a  zealous  Quaker,  being  in 
Philadelphia,  discovered  that  the  society  used  the  greatest  licen- 
tiousness, in  doing  away,  by  allegory,  the  narrative  of  the  real 
sufferings  of  Christ ;  and  consequently  the  doctrine  of  a  real 
atonement.  He  suspected  them  of  being  infected  with  the  spirit 
of  deism.  He  drew  on  him  the  resentment  of  the  body.  Penn 
was  at  this  time  in  London.  Not  understanding  the  true  cause 
of  the  dispute,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  Turner,  a  justice  in  Phila- 
delphia. He  defends  "  honest  G.  Keith  and  his  Platonic  studies." 
Keith  returned  to  London.  He  soon  discovered  that  these  senti- 
ments, which  he  had  attacked,  were  not  confined  to  the  transat- 
lantic Quakers.  Penn  had  spoken  from  the  text,  "  the  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sins."  This  exposition 
was  strictly  orthodox  on  their  principles.  "  The  blood  is  the  life, 
and  the  life  is  the  light  within  them.''''  Keith,  at  a  subsequent  meet- 
ing, took  up  this  subject,  and  showed  that  "  sin  was  cleansed  by 
the  blood  of  the  true  Christ  actually  shed  on  Calvary."  Penn 
started  from  his  seat ;  and,  as  he  afterwards  stated  in  the  annual 
meeting,  being  so  "  transported  by  the  poAver  of  God,  that  he  was 
carried  out  of  himself,  and  did  not  know  whether  he  was  sitting, 
or  standing,  or  on  his  knees  :  he  thundered  forth  this  anathema," 
'•'- 1  pronounce  thee  an  apostate,  over  the  head  of  thee.''''  The  great 
body  followed  Penn.     Keith  was  condemned  by  an  edict  of  the 

*  See  Shack.  Lett,  to  the  Monthly  Meeting  of  Carlow,  1801,  and  Rath- 
bone's  Nar.  p.  164. 

t  "  Snake,  Sec."  p.  71  and  282. 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  117 

annual  meeting,  but  was  not  tardy  in  his  own  defence :  he  de- 
nounced the  society  as  Deists,  under  the  disguise  of  allegory,  and 
he  went  as  far  as  arguments  can  go  to  establish  the  fact.* 

In  171 1,  a  dissention  arose  in  the  annual  meeting  in  London. 
It  was  in  consequence  of  an  attempt,  by  a  strong  party,  to  have 
a  general  review  of  the  Friend's  books :  and  to  expunge  any  er- 
rors that  might  be  found  in  them.  Whitehead  was  the  head  of 
the  other  party.  He  argued,  that  a  project  of  this  kind,  was  a 
virtual  surrender  of  their  infallibility  and  inspiration.  His  party 
prevailed.  Hence  it  is,  that  the  polemics  of  the  society  defend 
every  expression  that  dropt  from  the  pen  of  their  ancients.  They 
would  not  surrender,  to  their  opponents,  one  item ;  nor  deign  to 
offer  one  apology.  In  Whiting's  collection  of  the  books  of  the 
society,  however,  it  appears  that  great  freedoms  have  been  used. 
The  fact  has  been  established,  by  a  comparison  of  the  ancient 
and  modern  editions,  that  the  most  offensive  expressions  have 
been  expunged  :  that  Fox's  Journal,  in  particular,  had  undergone 
a  severe  castigation.t  Nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at,  Penn  has 
advocated  the  measure  in  a  similar  case.  When  Fox  and  he 
ventured  to  alter,  to  a  more  orthodox  sense,  a  paper  "  given  forth 
by  inspiration,"  he  defended  the  deed  on  this  ground,  "  that  the 
spirit  of  the  prophets  is  subject  to  the  prophets.'"^ 

Besides  these  divisions,  the  Free  Quakers,  who  justly  advocate 
the  principle  of  self-defence,  have  formed  themselves  into  a  socie- 
ty. There  are,  also,  the  Jumping  Quakers,  who,  in  the  days  of 
Penn,  seceded,  under  their  leader,  Case.§  These  copied  their 
gestures  from  the  ancient  Salii,  the  priests  of  Mars,  in  preference 
to  the  priestess  of  Delphi.  Instead  of  the  devout  acts  of  trem- 
bling and  quaking,  they  adopted  those  of  jumping  !  They  arc 
perpetuated  among  us  to  this  day.  They  exist  near  Albany,  and 
in  the  state  of  Ohio.  "  They  may  be  considered,"  said  uncle 
John,  "  as  a  species  of  extravagance,  even  in  the  kingdom  of  dark- 
ness. And  yet,  (such  is  human  nature)  they  may  maintain  their 
march  till  they  fall  before  the  glory  of  the  latter  day !    For 

*  See  Keith's  «  Deism  of  W.  Penn,''  and  Mosh,  vol.  v.  cent.  17.  ch.  4, 
sect.  2.  part  2.     See  note  B.  appendix  1. 
t  Buss's  Pict.  p.  64,  65.  "  Snake,  &c."  p.  113. 
i  See  vol.  ii.  p.  217. 
§  See  "  The  Quakers,  a  divided  people,"  publ.  in  A.  D.  1708. 


118  ^In  Historical  Dissertation. 

though  their  doctrinal  system  is  rotten  to  the  core,  they  do,  nath- 
less,  retain  much  of  the  decencies  and  loveliness  of  morality  in 
their  private  manners." 

§  26. — Human  nature  is  the  same  in  all  societies.  The  spirit 
of  persecution  has  disgraced  almost  every  section  of  christians. 
The  Puritans  were  persecuted  by  the  Hierarchy.  In  New  Eng- 
land, the  Puritans  persecuted  the  Friends.*  And  amiable  as  they 
arc,  the  Friends  have  had  a  visit  from  this  demon.  Those  who 
have  studied  their  history,  will  remember  the  cases  of  Pierson, 
and  of  King,  and  of  Chadwell,  and  Ann  Mudd.  In  their  Suffer- 
ings we  have  a  view,  in  miniature,  of  the  members  of  the  society 
retaliating  on  individuals  that  cruelty  which  fell  on  them  from 
a  persecuting  priesthood.  Those  persons  disturbed  the  Friends* 
meetings  as  Fox  and  others  did  those  of  the  church.  They 
were  dragged  out,  and  subjected  to  that  specific  cruelty,  which 
Fox  records  in  his  case.  Pierson  was  insulted ;  his  clothes  were 
torn ;  "  his  blood  was  shed ;"  he  was  laid  across  a  horse  and  car- 
ried by  Friends  to  an  ale  house.  They  had  him  seized  by  a 
warrant;  he  was  dragged  before  a  justice.  Four  times  they  in> 
prisoned  him  in  arbitrary  prisons :  twice  they  placed  him  in  the 
jail  of  Carlisle ;  and  finally,  at  the  annual  meeting,  they  contrived 
to  have  him  arrested,  under  a  charge  of  debt,  and  thrown  into  a 
jail  in  London.  His  feeling  appeals  against  the  society,  are  made 
precisely  in  the  words  of  Fox  against  the  church,  and  the  cruel 
magistracy  of  his  day.t 

To  the  same  spirit,  we  must  ascribe  their  harsh  measures  of  dis- 
cipline. Members  have  been  expelled  because  they  had  scru- 
ples against  rising  and  uncovering  during  prayer.|  Some  have 
felt  the  thunders  of  their  Vatican,  because  they  sold  a  book  hos- 
tile to  their  tenets. §     If  members  marry  out  of  the  society,  they 

*  I  magnify  not  the  syjot  on  the  character  of  those  great  men  who 
founded  New  En;4land.  I  simply  state  a  fact.  And  that  spot  is  certainly 
covered  by  that  glory  which  their  sons  and  tlieir  daughters  have  thrown 
arrmnd  them  bv  their  perfect  liberality,  and  by  their  superior  labours  ia 
the  Bible  and  Missionary  causes. 

f  Fenn  ii.  193,  212,  2 14,  and  Muckalow's  book,  p.  22  and  29,  and  Pier- 
sou's  "  Relation  of  the  implacable  cruelty  of  the  Quak.  A.  D.  1713,"  and 
Bueg's  Picture  of  Quak. 

:i;'"^Rathb.  Nar.  p.  72. 

§  I  refer  the  Quaker  to  their  Regist.  of  Condem.  for  1681,  and  •'  Snake, 
8ic."  edit.  3.  p.  308,  309,  or  edit.  2.  p.  304. 


^in  Historical  Dissertation.  il9 

are  forthwith  expelled.  And  in  our  large  cities,  this  infliction  on 
a  merchant,  who  has  been  brought  up  in  the  society,  and  who 
has  his  mercantile  concerns  chiefly  among  them,  is  a  signal  for 
his  ruin.*  In  Ireland,  and  sometimes  in  England,  they  inflict  a 
kind  of  civil  penalty  on  those  who  marry  out  of  their  communi- 
ty. The  parents  of  the  offending  parties  "  are  enjoined  by  the 
annual  meetings  not  to  give  them  any  of  their  substance  or  portion^^ 
until  they  return  to  the  unity  of  the  body.  And  those  parents 
who  ""  slmll  give  portions  to  them^  or  entertain  them,  or  be  familiar 
with  them,''''  shall  "fee  closely  dealt  with.''''  And  if  they  persist,  tluy  too 
ihallbe  excluded.]  And  this  exclusion,  in  every  case,  except  that 
of  the  rich  and  independent,  is  paramount  to  ruin  in  temporal  con 
cerns.J 

§  27. — The  Society,  from  its  first  appearance,  has  had  this  pe- 
culijjf  feature,  that  it  has  always  stood  alone.  It  has  been  an 
Ishmael  on  the  limits  of  the  Reformed  churches.  It  has  been 
against  every  one  of  her  sections,  and  every  one  of  them  has  been 
against  it.  Toward  the  close  of  the  17th  century,  the  tide  of  pub- 
lic opinion  was  directed  against  them  with  constant  and  increas- 
ing violence.  The  pulpit  and  the  press  wei-e  put  in  requisition. 
Individuals  and  W'hole  counties,  ministers  and  laymen,  bishops 
and  judges  united  -.heir  eflx)rts  to  repel  their  violence  against  the 
doctrines  and  institutions  of  Christ.  Hicks  had  convicted  them 
of  impiety  and  irreverence  toward  the  Holy  Scriptures.§  "  The 
magistracy,  the  gentlemen  and  ministry  of  the  county  of  Lancas- 
ter," had  petitioned  the  council  to  interpose,  to  set  bounds  to  thei;? 
errors  and  disorders.jl  Dr.  Owen,  a  voluminous  writer  against 
the  society,  but  who  seldom  named  them,  had,  with  his  known 
weight  of  talents,  and  with  great  moderation,  followed  them  over 
their  system,  and  had  given  triumphant  refutations  of  their  errors 
in  the  Trinity,  on  the  person  of  Christ :  on  the  person  and  ope- 

•  See  the  melancholy  details  in  Evans's  Narrative.  Philad.  Athen.  Libr, 
pampl.  vol.  53,  no.  4. 

t  See  extracts  of  the  National  Half-years'  meeting,  A.  D.  1680. 

X  Rathbone's  do.  appendix,  no.  6,  on  the  connexion  between  disowu- 
ment  and  persecution. 

^  Dialogue  between  a  Christian  and  Quak.  Penn  ii.  p.  590,  and  Rati;- 
bone's  Narrative,  appendix  no.  5.  Phil.  Libr.  no.  3798,  octave. 

)l  See  the  petition  in  "  Snake,  &c."  p.  21, 


120  *^w  Historical  Dissertation. 

rations  of  the  spirit :  on  the  Scriptures :  on  the  Sabbath  and  tlie 
divine  ordinances.*  Judge  Hale  had  exposed  their  "superstitious 
folly,  in  placing  so  much  of  their  religion  in  keeping  on  the  hat ; 
in  using  thee  and  thou ;  in  changing  names  of  days  and  months.' 
He  had  exposed  their  "  subtle  schemes,  in  drawing  off  the  peo- 
ple from  christian  institutions  and  the  ministry,  that  they  might 
infuse  into  them  their  corrupt  principles."t  Faldo  had,  at  the 
bar  of  the  public,  convicted  them  of  Socinian  errors.]:  Stalham 
had,  with  great  effect,  exhibited  their  contradictions  with  them- 
selves and  with  the  Scripturcs.§  The  amiable  and  sensible  Scan- 
drett  had  travelled  over  their  system,  and  exposed,  in  the  most 
candid  manner,  their  complicated  errors.||  Twenty-one  divines, 
among  whom  we  find  the  names  of  Manton,  Gouge  and  Baxter, 
had  established  the  fact,  that  the  leaders  of  the  society  had  form- 
ed a  medley  of  Sabellian  and  Socinian  errors  in  their  cr^i^.H 
Three  learned  rectors,**  in  a  joint  production,  entitled, "  The  Prin- 
ciples of  Quakers  shown  to  be  blasphemous  and  seditious,''''  had  roused 
the  indignation  of  the  religious  public,  and  spread  alarm  through 
the  body  of  the  society.  Leslie,  the  favourite  of  the  public  in 
that  dispute,  and  distinguished  for  his  ingenuity  and  solidity,  his 
sallies  of  wit  and  satire,  had  exposed  on  every  vulnerable  point, 
the  errors,  the  superstition  and  contradictions  of  the  society.tt 
The  venerable  bishop  of  Cork  had,  with  dignity  and  success, 
shown  that  the  society  was  not  only  enveloped  in  a  cloud  of  er- 
rors, but  that  not  two  of  their  leaders  were  agreed  about  their 
first  principle.|t  Keith  had  shown,  by  abundant  evidence,  that 
by  means  of  allegory,  they  had  removed  from  their  system,  the 

*  Each  of  these  is  discussed  less,  or  moi-e  fully,  in  diflferent  parts  of  his 
works. 

t  Sir  Matthew  Hale's  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  208.  edit.  1805. 

X  In  his  "  Quakerism  no  Christianity.'^  A.  D.  1673. 

§  "  Reviler  rebuked." 

(I  "  Antidote  against'Quak."  Small  quarto,  in  the  Philad.  Libr.  no.  1323. 
See  Calamy's  Ejected  Min.  Art.  Scandrett. 

f  See  Pref.  to  Faldo,  and  also  Pcnn,  ii.  608. 

*•  Dr.  Beckham,  Dr.  Meriton  and  Dr.  Topcliife. 

If  "  Snake  iri  the  Grass"  It  went  through  three  editions  in  little  more 
than  a  year.  It  was  the  object  of  assault  by  every  Quaker  author.  No 
Quaker  can  speak  of  this  book  in  temperate  language.  See  no.  .474, 
duod.  Philad.  Libr. 

Xt  See  his  "  Testimony,  isi'c."  and  ,Penn,  ii.  885.  They  cannot  agree  on 
the  nature  of  the  light  in  them.    See  vol.  ii.  ch.  vi.  following. 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  121 

true  outward  Christ :  and  thai  instead  of  him,  who  in  real  human 
nature,  had  died  on  the  cross,  they  had  introduced  the  visionary 
principle  of  the  Christ  within :  and  that  they  avowed  the  deisti- 
cal  sentiment,  that  the  knowledge  of  the  outward  Christ  was  not 
essentially  necessary  to  the  salvation  of  man  in  pagan  darkness.* 
Bennet's  criticisms  and  learned  expositions,  had  taught  his  coun- 
trymen how  to  detect  the  sophistry  of  Barclay,  and  dissolve  his 
imposing  syllogisms.!  The  act  of  toleration  of  A.  D.  1689,  had 
required  of  the  members  of  the  society  to  make  a  confession  of 
their  faith,  in  "  God  the  Father,  and  the  Lord  Jesus  his  eternal 
Son,  the  true  God  ;  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  one  God,  blessed  for 
ever."|  The  veteran,  F.  Bugg,  had,  for  upwards  of  thirty  years, 
laboured  to  unfold  to  the  religious  world,  the  true  nature  and  ten- 
dency of  the  doctrines  of  this  sect.  He  had  written  eighty-five 
books  against  the  proselytes  of  Fox  and  Loe.  He  had  put  forth 
his  "  painted  harlot ,-"  his  "  battering  rams  against  new  Rome  ;"  his 
"one  blow  more  at  new  Rome.**  He  had  thrown  his  '"'•  first  bomb,''* 
and  his  "  second  bomb,''''  and  his  "  third  bomb,'''  into  the  "  Quaker 
camp."§  Several  counties  had  petitioned  parliament  to  examine 
their  tenets  and  conduct,  and  to  watch  them  as  dangerous  inno- 
vators.||  The  learned  Stillingfleet  had  unfolded  the  origin  and  the 
natural  tendency  of  the  pestilential  errors  of  the  society  .If  Strong 
suspicions  had  been  excited  in  the  public  mind,  of  an  intimate 
connexion  existing  between  the  Jesuits  and  the  leading  men  in 
the  society.**  It  is  certain  that  some  of  these  men  had  evinced 
zeal  for  popery  at  an  anterior  date ;  and  the  public  had  not  been 
fully  satisfied  that  the  Quakers  had  converted  them.  •  Labadie, 
of  the  society  of  Jesuits,  established  Quakerism  in  Holland.  Bar- 

"  Deism  of  W.  Penn"  and  Burnet's  Hist,  of  his  Own  Times  :  vol.  ii- 
p.  248.  fol.  edit. 

f  See  his  Review  of  the  Apology,  entitled,  "  Confutation  of  Quak. 
edit,  octavo,  1705, 

+  Besse  i.  p.  50.  fol. 

§  His  great  work  is  the  Picture  of  Quak.  in  8  parts.  See  no.  1554,  oc- 
tavo, in  the  Philad.  Libr.  edit,  of  A.  D.  1714. 

IJ  See  copies  of  the  petitions  in  Bugg's  Picture  of  Quak.  p.  96. 

i  Dr.  S.  says,  ''judging  the  father  from  the  child's  likeness  in  doctrine 
and  practice,  the  founder  of  the  Jesuits  is  the  grandfather  of  the  Quakers." 
"  Idolat.  of  the  Roman  Church,"  p.  282.  edit.  2. 

•*  See  Besse,  vol.i.  p.  40,  and  "  Quakerism  Anatomized"  by  Jennerand 
Taylor,  p.  162,  and  Penn,  vol,  ii.  p.  76. 

19 


122  Jin  Historical  Dissertation. 

clay  was  educated  under  his  uncle  in  the  Scots  Catholic  college* 
of  Paris.  Vaughton,  one  of  their  best  speakers,  had  been  Catho- 
lic. And  Southbj,  who  had  graced  the  assemblies  in  Philadel- 
phia, had  been  a  worshipper  of  the  host  and  saints.j  But  the 
books  which  issued  from  the  press  by  the  agency  of  Fox,  excited 
the  strongest  suspicions.  The  grand  jury  of  Norfolk,  England, 
stated  it  to  be  a  fact,  established  by  his  manuscript  letters,  that 
Fox  could  not  write  two  sentences  in  good  English  4  and  that  it 
was  admitted  by  all  his  friends  that  he  knew  nothing  of  the 
learned  languages  :§  yet  that  this  man  published,  under  his  name, 
eight  books  in  Latin,  and  a  species  of  polyglot,  in  which  senten- 
ces of  Latin,  Hebrew,  Italian,  Greek,  Syriac  and  Chaldaic,  were 
arranged  in  their  respective  columns. j|  Some  said  that  the  Jews 
or  at  least  Jesuits  .lad  compiled  them :  others  supposed  that  the 
^old  of  the  society  had  done  it.ll 

§  28. — The  result  of  these  able  exposures,  was  the  confirmation 
of  many  wavering  christians,  the  recovery  of  some  distinguished 
converts,**  and  a  general  and  severe  check  to  the  tide  of  error. 
It  threw  a  damp  on  the  ardour  of  the  Lupercalians,  and  annihila- 
ted those  excessive  disorders  which  are  the  stigma  of  the  first  and 
second  periods  of  their  history.  The  great  body  of  their  people, 
simple  and  illiterate,  stood  Avith  breathless  expectation,  and  rais- 
ed their  anxious  eyes  to  their  leaders.  The  public  indignation 
was  too  strong  not  to  make  them  bend.  They  retreated  from  the 
high  ground  which  they  had  assumed.  They  lowered  their  tone. 
But  I  cannot  perceive  that  they  renounced  an  item  of  their  doc- 
trinal system.  Penn  wrote  his"  Key.''''  He  made  marvellous  conces- 
sions. "  Setting  aside  some  school  terms,'"  says  he,  "  we  hold  the 

*  Or  Convent. 

f  In  169r,  "Snake,  gccin  the  Grass,"  p.  188  or  p.  185.  edit.  ?  of  1697. 

X  See  a  specimen  in  "  B^igg's  Picture  "  p.  386,  &(:. 

§  Leslie,  the  autlior  of  t!ie  "  Snake,"  has  waggishly  supposed,  that  G. 
Fox  had  stumbled  on  an  ancient  copy  of  the  EngHsh  Bible,  and  having 
taken  it  foi-  the  orii^-lnal,  he  produced  its  authority  as  the  authority  of  the 
orighial  tongues  for  his  favourite,  "  thee  and  thou  .'" 

II  See  the  petition  of  the  grand  jury  in  Bugg's  Picture  of  Quakerism,  p. 
334,  £cc. 

f  See  "  the  Snake,  &c."  p  84. 

**  See  a  specimen  in  Haworth's"  Narrative,"  &c.  Land.  1699,  Philad. 
Ljbr.  no.  940,  quarto,  Tract  ninth. 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  123 

substance  of  the  doctrines  of  the  church  of  England."*  The 
leaders  of  the  sect  sent  forth  a  confession  in  twelve  articles. 
These  made,  in  words  at  least,  an  approximation  to  the  creed  of 
the  Reformed  churches.  But  the  <rwe  doctrines  of  the  society  arc 
involved  in  ambiguity.  If  the  words  be  taken  in  the  orthodox- 
sense,  they  do  contain  sentiments  hostile  to  those  laid  before  the 
public  already  in  their  books.  Their  ambiguity  rests  chiefly  on 
the  grand  article,  then  chiefly  in  dispute.  That  is,  Avhethcr  they 
have  any  other  Christ  than  that  in  them  :  whether  they  do  acknow- 
ledge the  Lord  Christ  to  be  a  distinct  person  from  the  Father,  and 
in  the  heavens  in  his  glorifed  body.  But  with  all  its  ambiguity. 
this  confession,  even  in  the  close  of  the  1 7th  century,  avows  the 
sentiment  of  the  father  of  English  Deists  ;t  that  the  knowledge  of 
the  crucified  Saviour  is  not  essentially  necessary  to  the  salvation  of 
man.%  And,  with  all  the  public  indignation  hanging  over  their 
heads,  they  are  not  afraid  actually  to  avow  the  Foxonian  senti- 
ment, that  the  name  of  Jesus  and  of  Christ  belongs  to  every  mem- 
ber in  their  church ;  with  this  exception,  that  it  belongs  not  so 
ttmply§  to  them  as  to  him  who  was  born  of  the  Virgin. ||  But  ad- 
mitting that  this  confession  were  orthodox,  it  is  in  several  points, 
at  perfect  antipodes  with  the  writings  of  their  ancient  elders,  to 
which  they  appeal  as  the  standards  of  their  orthodoxy  ! 

§  29.  After  these  theological  sentiments  had  slumbered,  du- 
ring the  repose  which  the  society  enjoyed  under  the  mild  reigns 
of  Anne,  of  George  the  First,  and  of  George  the  Second,  the  atten- 
tion of  the  religious  world  was  again  excited,  and  directed  to  the 
society  by  the  venerable  bishopof  Litchfield  and  Coventry.  That 
eminent  prelate  wrote  a  "  Vindication  of  the  miracles  of  our  Lord.'''' 
In  the  course  of  his  review  of  Woolston,  he  took  occasion  to  con- 
trast the  opinions  of  the  Quakers  with  those  of  that  infidel.  The 

•  See  his  "  Faith  of  God  held  by  Quakers  :"  and  his  reply  to  the  bishop 
of  Cork. 

t  Hevberf'DeRelig.  Gentil." 

X  See  Sewel,  vol.  ii.  p.  477',  478. 

§  III  the  first  edition  this  word  was  printed  in  old  English  letters.  Les- 
lie's Snake,  &c  p.  175. 

II  See  "the  Christian  Testim.  art.  x.  ancient  edit,"  and  "  Snake,  &c." 
p.  175  and  edit.  2.  p.  171.  Sewel  has  taken  the  liberty  oi  omitting  the  last 
eight  articles.  He  gives  only  the  least  exceptiouatjle,  viz.  the  first,  se- 
cond and  third,  vol.  ii.  p.  483. 


124  Jin  Historical  Dissertation, 

result  of  his  ingenious  argument,  in  which  he  displays  an  exten- 
sive and  accurate  acquaintance  with  the  sentiments  of  the  an- 
cient Friends,  is,  that  they  are  Deists  under  the  disguise  of  alle- 
gory. "  The  Quakers,"  said  the  bishop,  "  have  been  so  far 
deluded,  as  to  lose  the  belief  of  a  real  and  external  Jesus,  by  the 
Christ  within.,  and  the  literal  resurrection  of  the  one  by  the  spi- 
ritual and  moral  one  of  the  latter."* 

This  book  was  dedicated  to  the  King.  This  circumstance, 
with  the  ability  and  candour  with  which  it  was  written,  created 
an  alarm  in  the  society :  they  put  their  advocates  in  requisition ; 
but  conscious  of  their  weakness,  they  threw  themselves  at  the 
foot  of  the  throne.  They  preferred  a  complaint  against  their 
assailant,  before  their  sovereign,  and  implored  his  protection  as 
if  the  good  bishop  had  been  about  to  send  them  to  the  stake — 
or  at  least  like  a  Cyclops,  had  been  about  to  devour  them  bo- 
dily !  They  pledged  a  vindication  of  their  tenets  before  the  pub- 
lic ;  that  vindication  threw  no  light  on  the  subject :  it  was  a  feeble 
re-echo  of  the  voice  of  their  fathers ;  expressing,  however,  a  dis- 
position to  smooth  some  of  the  rougher  features  of  their  system, 
and  to  throw  a  veil  over  some  sentiments  which  were  rather  more 
mystical  than  what  the  enlightened  age  would  bear.j 

§  30.  The  incidents  in  the  latter  years  of  their  history  are 
uninteresting.  It  presents  occasionally  a  prophet  or  a  prophet- 
ess at  the  bar  of  the  public,  with  an  insipid  journal  ;|  or  a  sensi- 
ble Friend  attempting  to  represent  their  tenets  as  very  orthodox, 
even  more  orthodox  than  those  which  are  surely  contained  in  the 
pages  of  Fox  and  Penn  ;§  or  a  historian  lamenting  the  degene- 
racy of  the  modern  Friends  in  dress  and  speech,  and  recreating 
his  memory  and  the  imagination  of  his  fellows,  by  a  picture  of 
the  characters  of  olden  times ;  whom  he  exalts  to  ghostly  honours 
equal  to  those  of  the  calendar.||    But  more  frequently  it  exhibits 

•  Vindication  of  the  Miracles  of  Jesus,  against  Woolston,  p.  572.  edit. 
A.  D    1730.     See  more  of  this,  part  ii.  ch  ix.  following. 

t  Rcfily  in  two  letters  to  the  "  Bishofi  of  Litchf.  a7id  Cov."  by  T.  S. 
Lend.  A.  D.  1733.  No.  899.  oct.  Phil.  Lib. 

X  journals  of  Job  Scott,  Philips,  Grub,  Gratton,  Lucas,  &,c. 

§  See  the  papers  of  H.  Tuke.  in  Christ.  OI)s.  for  May.  1814. 

II  See  Besse's  Sufferings  of  Quakers,  2  vols,  folio,  A.  D.  1753,  pp.  No. 
1405,  Phil.  Lib. 


t^w  Historical  Dissertation.  125 

a  disowned  member,  preferring  bis  unavailing  plea  to  the  ear  of 
the  public,  against  tyranny  and  persecution.* 

It  is  now  a  hundred  and  eighty  years  since  these  principles 
were  brought  into  operation.  After  various  modifications  under 
the  ordeal  of  public  opinion,  they  seem,  like  Ishmael,  to  have 
taken  their  place  :  and  they  "  dwell  in  the  presence  of  all  their 
brethren."  In  Britain  the  society  gains  few  proselytes :  they 
appear  to  be  on  the  decline  in  the  land  that  gave  them  birth.t 
The  mere  increase  of  their  population  does  not  suffice  to  fill  up 
the  vacancies  occasioned  by  the  expulsions  and  desertions  which 
the  society  have  to  lament.  In  the  United  States,  they  are,  it  is 
presumed,  on  the  increase.  Remote  from  the  projects  of  ambi- 
tious statesmen,  and  the  struggles  of  the  warrior  for  his  bloody 
laurels,  and  the  political  convulsions  of  nations,  the  society  has 
held  on  its  way,  and  kept  up  the  testimony  of  their  fathers  ;  and 
"  followed  its  own  concerns  in  pursuit  of  riches,  with  a  step  as 
steady  as  time,  and  an  appetite  as  keen  as  death."  Amidst  the 
united  and  unceasing  exertions  of  every  section  of  the  church,  by 
Missionary  and  Bible  societies,  to  extend  the  blessings  of  Chris- 
tianity to  every  region  of  the  world,  and  to  meliorate  the  condi- 
tion of  man,  christian  and  savage,  the  society  has  declined  every 
invitation  to  second  our  efforts  in  the  grand  cause :  and  they  stand 
at  the  same  painful  distance  from  every  section  of  the  church, 
and  frown  from  them  every  approach  to  religious  intercourse  and 
communion.  Distinguished  individuals  have,  indeed,  with  a  no- 
ble independence  and  amiable  charity,  lent  their  valuable  servi- 
ces in  the  gratuitous  distribution  of  Bibles  :J  but,  as  a  society, 
they  stand  aloof  and  throw  in  their  entire  influence  against  the 
enterprises  of  zeal  and  charity  which  distinguish  this  age.  What 
they  do,  they  will  do  alone ;  and  that  little  which  has  been  done 

•  Rathbone,  Evans,  &c. 

f  Clavkson's  portrait  of  Quak.  vol.  iii.  ch.  3.  They  amount  to  about 
24,000  in  Britain.  Rathbone's  Narrat.  p.  219,  note.  In  the  close  of  tlie 
seventeenth  century  they  were  calculated  to  amount  to  100,000  souls  in 
England.     See  '■'■  Sjuike  inthe  Grass  "p.  245 — second  edit. 

i  In  England  leading  7ne?)ib('7-s  have  done  themselves  the  highest  hon- 
our, and  the  cause  of  God  essential  services,  by  aiding  the  efforts  of  the 
Bible  Society.  Christ.  Observer,  vol.  for  1812.  We  can  boast  also  of 
our  liberal  New  York  Friends,  members  of  the  American  Bible  Societv. 
The  number,  however,  is  extremely  small. 


126  An  Historical  Dissertation. 

this  way  by  them,  has  been  confined  to  some  attempts  at  the  ci- 
vihzation  of  some  Indian  tribes,  and  the  mehorating  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  Africans.* 

§  31.  Conclusion. — The  force  of  prejudice  and  sectarian 
pride  may  retain  a  principle  even  after  it  has  been  proved  to  be 
of  pernicious  tendency.  But  self-defence  will  prompt  some 
change  in  the  form  at  least,  of  management. 

The  society  have  certainly  discovered,  of  late  years,  that 
their  illiterate  prophets,  with  all  the  advantage  of  immediate  objec- 
tive revelatimis,-'''\  are  not  the  best  qualified  in  the  world  for  their 
public  defence.  They  have  not,  however,  given  up  their  heredi- 
tary antipathy  to  the  sciences;  and  although  they  have  no 
learned  members  zealous  enough  to  undertake  their  defences, 
most  fortunatelj'^  they  have  funds,  and  these  funds,  though 
barred,  for  reasons  of  principle  against  the  Missionary  and  Bible 
societies,  are  freely  unlocked  in  the  cause  of  Quakerism.  These 
funds  paid  liberally  for  the  gratuitous  distribution  of  ten  thousand 
copies  of  the  "  Apology,"  and  eight  thousand  copies  of  Wyeth  :| 
and  in  later  times  it  has  been  no  less  liberal.  It  will  form  a  cu- 
rious era  in  letters,  if  their  enemies  in  London  should  contrive  to 
excite  a  tumult  against  the  Friends,  by  a  fresh  exposure  of  ava- 
rice or  monopoly  of  corn  ;  the  writers  of  the  Fleet  and  of  Grub 
street,  who  hire  out  their  literary  talents  for  a  "  consideration,'' 
will  soon  discover,  if  they  have  not  already  fortunately  discov- 
ered, that  the  wealthy  members  of  the  society  have  become  the 
patrons  of  science,  and  are  much  more  liberal  in  paying  for  any 
thing  in  their  line,  than  the  most  of  the  modern  Mecanases,  to 
poets  and  pamphleteers ! 

It  is  certain  that  with  the  exception  of  the  amiable  and  revered 
Tuke,  their  defendants  in  (he  latest  conflicts  have  been  men  not 
of  their  society.     The  antagonist  of  the  bishop  of  Litchfield  and 

*  The  extent  of  their  influence  in  putting  down  that  most  execrable 
traffic  in  human  beintjs,  the  Jfricau  Slave  Trade,  we  cannot  strictly  de- 
fine. The}'  gloriously  roused  uj)  the  public  mind  to  a  sense  of  the  evil ; 
and  then  acted  noij'.y  and  firmly  in  concert  with  the  statesmen  and  chris- 
tian ])ublic  of  tlie  United  States  and  Britain.  "  Palmam  qui  meruit,  ferat." 

J  Karclay. 

X  Against  Leslie's  "  Snake  in  the  Grass.  See  Bugg.  Pict.  of  Quak. 
p.  102,  8tc. 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  127 

Coventry,  was  a  polite  and  candid  man  ;  but  he  was  not  a  Quaker.* 
And  about  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  somewhat 
later,  when  the  public  indignation  against  the  English  Quakers 
was  running  so  high  that  they  could  not  venture  with  safety  to 
appear  in  the  streets  of  London,!  and  when  some  defence  was  no 
longer  a  matter  of  choice  with  them,their  anxiety  and  "so?ne^ar- 
ticular  aid,''^l  called  forth  two  writers  to  their  sinking  cause.§ 
They  were  not  Quakers  when  they  entered  the  field,  but  they 
probably  wrote  themselves  into  that  faith.  Bristed,  of  the  inner 
temple,  and  who  could  draru  up  a  briefs  was  the  one  :  he  appeared 
in  1805,  with  his  pitiful  production  sighing  forth  as  many  apolo- 
gies for  his  want  of  time,  and  his  defects,  as  for  those  of  his  af- 
flicted clients.||  Thomas  Clarkson  who  deserves  the  surname 
of  Jfricmms,  (or  his  illustrious  labours  in  behalf  of  bleeding  Afri- 
ca, was  the  other.TT 

This  amiable  man  was  unsettled  in  his  religious  opinions,  when 
his  labours  for  Africa  introduced  him  among  the  Friends.  He 
had  contented  himself  with  those  undefined  sentiments  on  reli- 
gion, which  float  in  the  society  of  the  mere  men  of  letters,  and 
among  the  persons  who  move  in  the  gay  circles :  he  found  the 
Quakers  his  faithful  auxiliaries  in  the  great  cause  of  outraged 
humanity,  and  like  every  other  man  who  has  not  studied  his  Bi- 
ble, nor  the  creeds  and  canons  of  the  church,  he  drew  the  infer- 
ence that  the  religious  opinions  of  an  amiable  and  humane  people 
must  of  course  be  orthodox,  and  the  very  best.  To  this  conclu- 
sion he  was  gradually  drawn  as  his  admiration  of  their  efforts 
increased,  and  as  they  entwined  themselves  around  his  afliect ions 
by  their  hospitable  attentions.  Hence  the  fact,  that  his  book 
contains  a  portraiture  of  their  doctrines,  not  drawn  from  their 
works,  the  only  correct  source,  I'ut  from  his  impressions  and 

•  See  his  Letters  to  the  Bishop  of  L.  and  C    A.  D.  1733. 

f  The  crime  which  the  puliiic  laid  to  their  charge  was  the  monopoliz- 
ing of  corn,  8tc.  D.  Bacon's  verbal  statemeut,  and  Evans's  Narrat. 
Pliilad.  1811,  p.  236. 

X  Evans's  Nar.  263,  &c.  &c, 

§  Bevan  published  a  small  duodecimo,  in  A.  D.  1800.  "  J  Refutation 
of  some  Misreiiresentationss,'"  &c.  It  is  a  hurriedly  written  and  superficial 
thing,  without  one  new  idea. 

II  See  his  "  Society  of  Friends,  or  people  called  Quakers  Examined," 
8vo.  one  vol. 

%  Portraiture  of  Quak.  3  vol.  12. 


1 28  An  Historical  Diasertation. 

feelings,  with  the  meagre  gleanings  of  conversation.  He  does  not 
quote,  because  he  had  not  read  the  folios  of  the  society.  "  Thus 
say  the  Quakers,"  is  the  usual  authority.  It  is  all,  in  general, 
that  he  vouchsafes  to  give  us  ;  in  vain  we  look  into  his  loose  and 
defective  representations,  for  a  character  of  the  first  Friends,  or 
for  the  doctrinal  system  of  Penn  and  Barclay.  He  neither  at- 
tempts the  one,  nor  explains  the  other  Yet  defective  as  it  is, 
we  consider  his  book  valuable  on  one  account,  it  does,  in  no  ob- 
scure manner,  confirm  the  fact  that  the  amiable  Tuke  has  erred 
in  his  representation  of  the  doctrines  of  his  society.*  Clarkson 
does  prove  that  the  society  is  as  Sabellian  and  as  Socinian  as  it 
ever  was,  and  that  they  have,  with  the  holy  sacraments,  erased 
from  their  system,  the  leading  doctrines  of  Christianity.  In  fact, 
his  pages  confirm  all  the  charges  which  the  venerable  bishop  of 
St.  David  has  brought  forward  against  them.t  We  produce 
the  following  theological  system  of  this,  the  last  of  their  cham- 
pions, as  the  proof  of  what  we  have  said.  The  spirit  that  had  ap- 
peared in  the  old  creation,  is  the  word  or  the  light.  This  spirit^  or 
7oord,  was  in  time  made  jlesh.  "  //  inhabited  the  body  of  the  person 
Jesus,'''  The  same  spirit  or  word  is  in  man,  with  this  difference,  that 
it  was  perfect  in  Jesus,  it  is  in  man  in  a  measure.  This  spirit  acts 
not  only  as  a  guide  to  man,  it  performs  the  office  of  a  redeemer.  ICs 
rising  up  zoithin,  is  man''s  new  birth.  This  birth  is  his  sanctification,  and 
this  is  the  procuring  cause  of  his  justif  cation  and  acceptance.l  This, 
meagre  as  it  is,  is  sufficient  to  show  that  the  present  doctrines  of 
the  English  and  American  Friends,  agree  with  those  of  Penn's 
"  Sandy  Foundation,"  and  of  Job  Scott's  Journal. 

§  32. — On  the  whole,  the  society  of  Friends  exhibit  a  singu- 
lar phenomenon  in  the  history  of  the  human  mind,  and  of  the 
progress  of  refinement  and  knowledge.  The  society  bears  the 
honoured  name  of  Christ.  It's  doctrines  are  the  dogmata  of  Plato 
and  Saccas ;  its  language  is  the  consecrated  language  of  the  Bible; 

*  Take's  Princi/iles,  Is'c.  of  Quakers,  and  Christian  Obs"  July, 
1814. 

■j-  Sec  his  "Charge  to  his  Clergy."  Sep.  1813,  and  Christian  Obs. 
!Mayl814. 

X  Clarkson's  Port.  vol.  ii.  ch.  7,  &c.  compared  with  F.  Nowgill's  senti- 
ments.   Sewel,  vol.  ii.  p.  220.  Phil.  Ed.  1811. 


Jin  Historical  Dissertation.  129 

its  ideas  attached  to  this  language  are  at  antipodes  with  the  ana- 
logy of  faith,  and  the  creeds  of  all  the  churches.  It  renders 
homage  to  the  name  of  Christ ;  the  Christ  they  honour  "  is  in 
every  man.^''  It  professes  to  rest  on  the  atonement  of  Christ ;  the 
atonement  which  it  advocates  is  wrought  out  in  the  bosom  of 
every  member  of  the  sect.*  It  professes  to  retain  the  purest 
system  of  Christianity,!  and  in  that  system,  there  is  no  place 
found  for  the  holiest  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  the  trinity,  the  dis- 
tinct personality  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  the  distinct  personality  of 
our  Lord,  the  real  atonement  by  his  blood  shed  on  Calvary ;  and 
all  those  doctrines  built  on  those  as  their  necessary  basis.  It 
professes  the  highest  veneration  for  the  institutions  of  Christ;  it 
rejects  the  holiest  of  them,  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper.  It 
professes  to  be  the  most  spiritual  society :  if  we  neutralize  all 
that  in  the  system  which  has  been  derived  from  the  mystics, 
there  will  remain  the  residuum  of  an  imposing  but  unsubstantial 
morality  : — imposing  in  the  eyes  of  men,  and  not  without  its  pur- 
poses and  uses  ;  but  unsubstantial  when  weighed  in  the  balance 
of  the  sanctuary  before  the  throne  of  justice.  It  professes  to  be- 
lieve that  each  of  its  members  has  in  him  the  true  Christ,  the 
infallible  spirit  which  alone  does  teach  and  guide  him;  yet  it  has 
its  outward  teachers,  and  its  meetings  for  discipline.  Its  leaders 
pour  out  a  torrent  of  raillery  against  Socinians ;  yet  Socinianism 
is  one  of  the  most  prominent  features  of  its  doctrinal  system.j  It 
rejects  the  ministry  as  "  made  by  man,"  because  they  arrive  at 
their  office  through  a  course  of  study  and  by  a  license ;  and  it 
censures  its  members  who  venture  to  preach  without  license  from 
the  select  meeting  of  its  ministers.§  It  brands  our  ministry  with 
the  appellation  of  "  hirelings,''''  because  according  to  the  will  of 
their  Lord,  "  they  live  by  the  gospel  ;||  and  it  advocates  the  pro- 

•  Compare  Pennii  p.  231  and  p.  530. 

t  Clarks.  Port.  vol.  1.  p.  v.  p.  1. 

^  See  Part  II.  and  chap  vii.  following,  on  the  doctrines  of  the  society. 
Compare  Penn's  Trait  called  "  The  Winding  Sheet,  iiT'c"  with  his  books 
*'  Reasoning  against  Railing,"  and  "  The  Sandy  Foundation."  See  the 
"  Snake,  l^c.  sect.  11. 

§  "  The  monthly  meeting  are  advised  to  select  such  under  the  denomi- 
nation of  elders."  Sum.  of  Hist.  Discip.  of  Friends.  Lon.  8vo.  p.  27. 
Rathbone's  Narrative,  p.  156.  Christ.  Observer,  vol.  12.  p.  602,  and  vol. 
13,  p.  p.  99,  112. 

II  1  Cor.  ix,  13,  14,  Gal.  vi.  6.     1  Tim.  v.  17. 

20 


130  *4w  Historical  Dissertation. 

priety  of  supporting  its  own,  though  in  a  penurious  manner.* 
Its  preachers  speak  only  by  the  motions  of  inspiration ;  yet  elders 
are  appointed  to  superintend  and  regulate  them  in  the  meetings. 
One  party  claiming  infallibility  sets  up  meetings  of  men  and  wo- 
men for  discipline ;  another  party  with  the  same  claims  puts  it 
down  as  intolerant.  One  class  under  this  infallibility  excommu- 
nicates its  brethren  for  dissenting  from  them ;  the  other  with 
equal  infallibility  (the  evidence  of  each  is  the  same)  and  with 
the  zeal  of  those  days  when  pope  opposed  pope,  returned  the 
fulmination.  As  if  heaven  would  become  a  party  in  their  innova- 
tions, Fox  produced  an  inspiration  to  determine  the  orthodox 
use  of  the  "  hat,  and  of  thee  and  //low."  As  if  heaven  did  not  regard 
contradictions,  Penn  tells  us  that  Fox  was  not  sent  to  teach  the 
propriety  of  speech.!  It  professes  itself  an  enemy  to  external 
forms :  none  are  more  tenacious  of  forms — none  more  precise  than 
they,  even  in  the  minor  points  of  dress  and  speech.  They  pro- 
fess themselves  Friends  to  all,  on  the  broad  basis  of  a  liberal 
charity :  and  they  denounce  the  ministry  of  all  the  churches ; 
they  denounce  all  christians  but  those  of  their  own  sect. J  On 
the  score  of  religion  they  will  neither  grant  nor  receive  any  com- 
munion ;  they  will  admit  of  no  interchange  of  christian  fellowship. 
They  withdrew  to  such  an  immeasurable  distance  from  the  love- 
ly practice  of  charity,  that  they  will  neither  give  nor  take  a 
"  God's  speecP^  in  the  matters  of  religion-^  Nay,  such  is  their 
opinion  of  even  the  best  of  their  fellow  men,  that  they  persecute 
even  to  expulsion,  and  with  a  species  of  civil  pains,  those  mem- 
bers who  marry  individuals  from  any  other  christian  society.|| 
It  professes  that  the  worship  of  God  is  offered  by  the  immediate 
movings  of  the  Spirit,  who  is  not  limited  to  place,  time  or  persons.lF 
Yet  it  has  not  only  its  stated  ministers,  but  its  meeting  houses, 

•  Barclay,  Theses,  xl.  and  see  Part  ii.  ch.  4,  following. 

t  Fox  Jour.  i.  113.  and  Penn  ii.  p.  119. 

^  See  the  proofs  in  "  Snake  in  the  Grass,"  sect.  16. 

§  Hence  it  is  evident  that  the  title  of  Friend,  [which  Clarkson  thinks 
so  lovely;  but  which  makes  no  approximation  to  the  affectionate  title  of 
Brother,  used  by  the  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ]  has  no  connexion  with  re- 
ligion ;  it  has  merely  a  temporal  bearing,  or  it  is  simply  an  empty  com- 
pliment, used  habitually  by  these  enemies  of  all  titles  and  compliments, 
when  addressed  by  them  to  any  one  out  of  their  society. 

II  See  the  statement  above  in  sect.  26. 

1  Bar.  Les.  xi.  Apol. 


An  Historical  Dissertation.  131 

in  which  alone  it  assembles ;  its  stated  days,  and  stated  hours, 
which  are  as  accurately  observed  as  if  announced  by  the  "  sand 
glasses,  or  the  helV  of  the  "  hirelings.'"'  It  professes  "  not  to  have 
budged  one  jot  from  the  testimony  of  its  ancients ;"  and  it  has 
told  the  world,  after  all  the  volumes  of  Fox,  and  of  Penn,and  of  Bar- 
clay, were  lying  before  it,  that  it  holds  to  the  creed,  and  to  nearly 
all  the  doctrines  of  the  church  of  England.*  As  the  steady  fol- 
lowers of  Fox,  the  society  makes  plainness  a  distinguished  article 
of  their  religion  ;  yet  such  is  the  richness  of  their  dresses,  the 
splendour  of  their  equipages,  the  luxury  of  their  tables,  and  the 
delicacy  and  profusion  of  their  wines,t  that,  if  that  same  George 
Fox  were  to  rise  from  the  dead,  and  behold  the  mournful  degene- 
racy of  his  disciples,  he  would  come  down  in  great  wrath;  he 
would  resume  his  Herculean  labours,  and  he  would  light  all  his 
battles  over  again,  in  organizing  a  new  sect  out  of  degenerated 
Quakerism. 

*  Penn  "  Truth  held  by  Quakers."  A.  D.  1699,  p.  48. 
t  Plumpudding  week — (all  the  world  has  heard  of  Plumpudding  week) 
affords  a  fair  specimen  of  this  to  their  count)  y  prophets  and  meniberi. 


END    OF   PART    I. 


OF  THEIR  DOCTRINAL  TENETS,  WORSHIP,  MINISTRY,  &C. 


Quse  et  a  falsis  initiis  profecta,  vera  esse  non  possunt :  et,  si  essent  vera,  nihil 
afFerrent  quo  melius  viveremus." 

Cic.  de  Finitus,  I, 


PART    11. 


CHAPTER  I. 

OF  THEIR  GRAND  RELIGIOUS  TENET IMMEDIATE  REVELATIONS. 


Theodoret. 


§  1.  This  is  certainly  the  most  important  article  in  the  creed 
of  the  society  :  it  is  the  pillar  and  ground  of  their  system.  Penn 
and  Barclay  knew  this,  and  they  put  forth  their  whole  strength 
to  establish  it.  But,  as  it  appears  on  their  pages,  it  is  confused 
and  obscure  ;  and,  unquestionably,  it  is  the  most  vulnerable  point 
of  their  whole  theory.  Without  taking  pains  to  investigate  the 
sentiments  of  the  church,  and  without  laying  down  any  clear  de- 
finitions, and  without  even  forming  just  conceptions  of  the  point 
in  debate,  they  rush  into  the  middle  of  their  subject,  and  are 
speedily  enveloped  in  syllogism  and  mystification :  .ind  it  is  a 
doubtful  matter  whether  human  patience  can  ferret  them  out. 

These  writers  seem  not  to  have  been  aware  that,  in  the  confes- 
sions and  articles  of  the  churches,  these  doctrines  have  invaria- 
bly been  held  essentials :  that  every  true  christian  is  taught  of  the 
Holy  Spirit ;  that  they  receive  of  him  every  grace  that  adorns 
the  christian's  character;  that  he  operates  by  means ;  that  these 
means  are  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  the  institutions  of  his  house ; 
that  these  means  hold  the  same  relation  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  which 
secondary  means  and  causes  hold  to  Divine  Providence  ;  that  in 
regard  to  the  radical  change  of  the  human  heart,  the  gospel  of 
Christ  is  the  adequate  and  only  means  of  setting  before  the  mind 
the  divine  objects  of  faith :  but,  that  however  clearly  we  may 
perceive  what  doctrines  are  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  and  by 

*  For  a  review  of  their  "  universal  intuar-cl  light,"  see  chap.  vi.  follow- 
ing, on  the  defects  of  their  system  in  respect  of  a  moral  standard. 


136  On  Immediate  Revelations. 

what  fulness  of  rational  evidence  they  are  attested,  we  cannot 
have  a  due  sense  of  their  divine  excellence  and  fitness,  until  we 
possess  the  divine  life  and  capacities :  that  there  must  be  the 
inward  powers  of  discerning,  as  well  as  a  clear  presentation  of 
the  objects  before  the  mind ;  that  the  Holy  Ghost  alone  bestows 
on  us  this  life  and  these  capacities  ;*  that  this  is  done  by  an  im- 
mediate operation  on  the  human  soul ;  that  there  is  no  room  for 
the  intervention  of  a  second  cause  in  this  step  of  the  work ;  for  it 
is  equivalent  to  an  act  of  "  raising  the  dtad^"*  and  of  "  creating'^'' 
something  new ;  and  such  acts  are  the  acts  of  Omnipotent  power: 
that  every  secondary  cause  being  necessarily  inferior  to  the  first 
cause,  in  other  words  being  inferior  to  Omnipotence,  of  course  no 
secondary  cause  can  possess  creating  energy ;  that  this  doctrine 
is  rational,  and  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible.t 

They  seem  also  not  to  have  been  aware,  that  the  church  draws 
a  deep  line  of  distinction  between  this  immediate  operation  on  the 
mind  and  immediate  revelations.  In  the  latter,  something  new  and 
unknown  before,  is  supposed  to  be  conveyed  by  an  immediate 
impulse.  In  the  former,  nothing  of  this  kind  does  take  place.  The 
renewed  soul  raises  its  eye  to  the  written  oracles  of  God,  which 
contain  the  last  and  the  only  revelation  that  shall  ever  be  con- 
veyed from  the  throne  of  light.  This  doctrine  of  the  church  is, 
therefore,  radically  different  from  the  immediate  revelations  of 
the  society :  and  it  distinctly  recognises  the  various  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  his  special  influences.| 

The  church,  moreover,  bears  her  testimony  of  gratitude  that 

•  Johniii.  3,  5.     Eph.  ii.  1,  5, 10,  &c. 

t  Matth.  xi.  25.  Psalm  cxix.  18.  2  Cov.  iv.  6.  Seethe  Dutch  An- 
not.  on  Revel,  ii).  18.  President  Edward's  Serm.  on  Math.  xvi.  17.  Sau- 
rin  vol.  vii.  serm.  i.  Homily  i.  of  the  Church  of  England.  Calv.  Instit. 
lib.  1,  cap.  8.  So  also  Beza,  and  Owen,  and  Bnllinger;  and  P.  Martyr. 
Loc.  Com.  p.  2.  cap.  18.  See  W.  I'erkins,  the  English  Calvin's  Works, 
vol.  iii.  p.  336.  fol.  A.  D.  1609.  Presbyterian  Confes.  of  Faith,  chap.  1. 
sect.  5.  And  we  add  to  these  all  the  fathers  quoted  by  Barclay,  andun- 
fairly  bent  to  his  purpose.  They  held  no  sentiments  foreign  to  those  of 
the  church — on  this  point. 

4^  Arc  we  to  set  down  as  the  ebullition  of  ignorance,  or  the  accusations 
of  slander,  "  all  that  cant  that  has  been  canted"  in  the  society  from  Bar- 
clay tothisday,  about  '■'  afiofitate  chrintians,'''  and  "  degenerate c/i}istia?7s," 
and"  carnal  christian-'i"  who  '■'■Jiout  at  the  motions  and  actings  of  the  s/ii- 
rit,"  (Barcl.  Apol.  Prop.  ii.  sect.  1,  &c.;  simply  because,  as  conscientious 
christians,  they  frown  from  them  the  fanatical  doctrine  u{  immediate  re- 
velations ?    See  Bennet's  Confut.  of  Quak.  pp.  12,  13,  &-C. 


On  Immediate  Revelations.  137 

hcj-  Lord  "  baptized  her  with  the  Holy  Ghost.^^  In  this  baptism  the 
Spirit  was  bestowed  in  his  two  extraordinnry  operations.  The 
first  was  the  principal.  The  second  was  subordinate  to  the  first.* 
The  first  was  for  general  instruction  in  truth  :  the  second  for  the 
confirming  of  the  heavenly  origin  of  that  truth  :  the  first  was  the 
extension  of  the  gift  of  revelation,  which  re\ste(l  on  the  ancient 
prophets :  the  second  embraced  his  supernatural  and  physical 
gifts.  Under  the  first  class,  we  rank  the  gifts  of  the  apostle  and  the 
evangelist,  and  the  prophet ;  who  brought  forward  those  doctrines 
which  were  not  taught  before,  or  were  but  obscurely  known  : 
and  which  went  to  the  completion  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and 
who  appointed  in  the  churches  which  they  planted,  pastors  and 
governments.  Under  the  second  class  we  rank  those  who  healed 
all  manner  of  diseases  :  and  those  who  had  "  the  inworking  ofpozo- 
ers  :"t  and  those  who  taught  and  occasionally  predicted  future 
events :  and  those  who  discerned  spirits  :  and  those  who  spoke 
miraculously  in  divers  tongues  :  and  those  who  interpreted  these 
tongues. 

The  grand  resources  of  both  classes  of  these  gifts  were  direct- 
ed to  two  points.  First:  the  completion  of  the  sacred  canon. 
Second:  the  establishment  of  Christianity  in  the  world.  The  first 
was  affected  by  delivering  to  the  church,  in  a  public  manner, 
their  inspired  writings:  and  by  confirming  the  evidences  of  these 
writings  by  miraculous  powers.  The  second  was  accomplished 
by  organizing  churches ;  and  by  placing  them  under  their  re- 
spective ministers  and  governments ;  and  the  moral  energies  of 
all  the  divine  doctrines  and  institutions  of  Christ.  These,  in  pro- 
portion, as  they  accomplished  their  end,  were  to  be  withdrawn. 
This  was  done  by  degrees.  The  office  of  the  apostle  became  ex- 
tinct at  the  decease  of  those  who  were  invested  with  it.f  Then 
the  class  of  superior  prophets  and  of  evangelists  gradually  van- 
ished away.  The  second  class  of  gifts  was  vouchsafed  to  the 
church  for  a  longer  period.  The  reasons  are  obvious.  On  every 
new  field  of  its  display,  the  gospel  had  to  encounter  the  same 

♦  It  is  not  denied,  that  both  orders  might  be  found  in  one  and  the  same 
person. 

t  Ev»5>)j//«T«  cT^/nejutffiv.  See  M'Knight's  New  Transl.  of  the  Epist.  oa 
1  Cor.  xii.  10. 

*  Gal.  ch.  1.     See  Campbell's  Eccles.  Lectures,  v.  sect.  3  and  4. 

21 


138  On  Immediate  Revelations. 

public  and  ferocious  enemies,  which  opposed  it  from  the  first.  It 
needed  the  aid  of  those  miraculous  powers  to  bring  its  blessing 
sooner  to  the  nations.  Hence  around  the  wide  circle,  over  which 
christianitj  had  spread  its  influences,  we  can  trace  the  vestiges 
of  these  gifts  to  the  second,  and  the  third,  and  the  fourth,  and  even 
to  the  fifth  centuries.*  But  these  have,  at  last,  one  by  one  been 
withdrawn.  And  there  are  left  the  ordinary  and  ample  class  of 
the  officers,  and  the  institutions  of  God's  house  ;  and  the  special 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  the  full  play  of  successful  operation. 
There  is,  indeed,  something  which  seems  to  me  to  bear  a  re- 
semblance to  the  remains  of  the  supernatural  gifts  of  ancient 
times:  or,  shall  I  rank  it  under  the  doctrine  of  communion  with 
God  ?  Or  shall  I  place  it  in  the  ministration  of  angels  ?  Or  under 
certain  operations  of  the  Divine  Comforter.  1  allude  to  "  the 
secret  of  the  Lord  being  sometimes  disclosed  to  them  that  love 
him."  Call  it  by  the  name  of  presentiments,  or  premonitions  if 
you  please.  It  is  something  different  from  "  objective  revelations.''^ 
These  were  bestowed  for  public  benefit :  and  to  have  concealed 
them  would  have  been  highly  criminal.  But  the  former  were 
personal,  and  were  attended  by  evidence  sufficient  only  to  satisfy 
the  individual.  These,  if  we  may  ciedit  the  best  of  men,  have 
been  vouchsafed  to  some  on  the  approach  of  calamities:  or  under 
the  pressure  of  heavy  afflictions  :  or  on  the  eve  of  their  dissolu- 
tion. They  were  tendered  by  the  ministration  of  angels,  through 
the  medium  of  some  of  the  external  senses;  or  by  some  impres- 
sion left  on  the  mind  by  invisible  agency. 

This  is  a  subject  of  peculiar  delicacy.  But  it  is  something  truly 
sublime.  And  the  mind  of  the  coolest  and  most  dispassionate  phi- 
losopher will  bend  over  it  with  feelings  of  uncommon  interest. 
There  is  nothing  common  between  these  premonitions  and  the 


•  Niceph.  Eccles.  Hist.  vol.  i.  lib.  iv.  c  24,  25.  Ruseb.  adv.  Hierocl. 
cap.  4.  Mosh.  Hist.  vol.  i.  cent.  4.  part  1.  sect  23.  Wits.  Miscel.  Sacra, 
lib.  i.  cap.  24.  Bern.  De  Mooie,  vol.  i.  cap.  1.  sect.  33.  Miracles  were 
wilnesstd  by  Just.  Martyr  in  the  second  century  ;  by  TertuUian,  by  Origeu 
and  by  Minuiius  Ftlix  in  the  third  ;  by  Lactantiiis  in  the  fourth  ;  and  in  the 
bcginniiii^  ot  the  fifth  by  Augustine.  Their  words  may  be  seen  in  Pol, 
Synopsis,  vol.  iv.  part  1,  p.  835.  See  also  Dr.  Owen  on  spiritual 
gifts,  chap.  V.  I  beg  leave,  also,  to  refer  to  Zach.  Brooke,  Defensio 
Miraculorum  post  temp,  apost.  no.  634,  quai-to  pamphl.  Philad.  Publ. 
Library.  And  on  the  other  side  of  the  question,  to  Dodwell's  arguments 
against  piracies  in  the  times  after  the  apostles,  no.  3358,  octavo  pamphl. 
Tract,  third.  Phil.  Library. 


On  Immediate  Mpvelations.  139 

dreamy  visions  which  the  pride  of  the  fanatic  pours  into  every 
man's  ear;  or  brings  forward,  with  mischievous  solemnity,  to 
prostrate  religion  and  piety.  They  constitute  a  part  of  that  high 
intercourse  that  obtains  between  kindred  spirits :  that  obtains  bel 
tween  the  Almighty  and  "  the  souls  which  he  has  made.''''  They 
are  the  soothing  whispers  of  redeeming  love  to  the  pious  soul 
throbbing  with  agony.  They  ai-e  the  interposing  aid  of  an  in- 
visible arm  stretched  out  to  a  soul  sinking  in  the  deep  waters  of 
sorrow.  They  are  the  movements  of  the  soft  hand  of  mercy, 
wiping  off  the  cold  dew  of  agony  from  the  brow  of  the  dying 
christian  and  the  suffering  patriot ;  and  of  the  sainted  martyr, 
"  baptized  in  blood-?''  Surely  it  is  no  enthusiasm  to  believe  that, 
in  this  sense,  "  the  secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them  that  fear  him.''''  If 
it  be,  it  is  a  delightful  enthusiasm !  But,  no !  when  we  look  over 
the  recorded  evidence  in  the  history  of  our  martyred  fathers,  in 
times  that  happily  have  passed  away,  we  cannot  work  our  minds 
up  into  a  state  of  philosophical  insensibility  cold  enough  to  op- 
pose it,  or  even  to  doubt  it.* 

§  2. — In  the  history  of  the  human  mind,  there  are  certain 
phenomena,  which  have  been  reduced  by  some,  under  the  class 
of  supernatural  impulses.  We  may  divide  these  into  two  kinds, 
apparent  and  real. 

First :  apparent. — The  usual  operations  of  a  calm,  and  espe- 

*  Those  who  wish  to  pursue  this  idea  further,  I  beg  leave  to  refer  to 
Niceph.  Eccles.  Hist.  vol.  ii.  lib.  x.  cap.  35,  fol.  Archbish.  Usher's  Life, 
fol.  p.  33.  Bishop  Brown's  sayings  of  the  Jesuits,  quoted  (out  of  the  Har- 
leian  Miscell.  vol.  v.  p.  566,)  by  M'Lain  in  Mosh.  vol.  iv.  cent.  16.  chap. 
1.  Lempr.  Biog.  Diet,  article,  lord  Lyttleton.  Bishop  Newton  on  the 
Proph.  vol,  iii.  p.  47,  duod.  edit.  Le  Clerc,  Sept.  Relig.  of  the  Greeks, 
p.  249.  Spencer  on  Prodigies  and  Vulgar  Proph.  no.  3626,  octavo.  Phil. 
Publ.  Library.  La  Harpe's  Narrat.  of  the  singular  prediction  of  Mons. 
Cazotte.  Analect.  Mag.  for  A.  D.  1815,  p.  258.  Our  divines  admit  this 
doctrine;  while  they  sternly  frown  from  them  the  spirit  ot  enthusiasm. 
Bern.  De  Moore,  vol.  i.  cap.  1.  sect.  33,  and  Wits  Miscel.  Sac.  lib.  i. 
cap.  24.  •'  Homines  pa,  ad profiiorem  amicitiam  'Vuminis  admissi,  ab  ifisa 
edoceantur  de  rebus  futuris — ad  excitationem  fiietatis,  ad  animi  consola- 
tionem,  isfc.^'  A  Synod  of  the  Reformed  church  in  Germany,  A.  D.  1633, 
being  moved  by  some  learned  divines  to  declare  against  all  prophecies 
and  revelations  of  this  nature,  declined  it,  adding  :  "  Nondum  ullam  Ec- 
clesiatn,  aut  consistorium,  vel  acadeviiam,  novas  id  genus  firofihetias  fie- 
nitus  rejecisse,  aut  condemnasse — nos  cur  firimi  esse  veli?nus  ?"  Hist,  of 
Revel,  by  J.  A.  C.  quoted  by  Spencer  ut  supra,  p.  111.  See  also,  Jortin's 
Remarks  on  Eccles.  Hist,  and  M'Crie's  Life  of  Knox,  p.  391.  393.  Nevr 
York  edit. 


140  t9/i  Immediate  Revelations. 

cially  of  a  distracted  mind,  are  sometimes  interrupted  by  strong 
impressions  suddenly  and  unaccountably  conveyed.  The  cre- 
dulous and  weak  pronounce  them  without  hesitation,  to  be  reve- 
lations. 

But  1.  These  may  originate  in  the  operations  of  conscience. 
This  moral  power  passes  sentence  on  the  actions  of  men.  Its 
operations  cannot  be  always  calm  and  undisturbed.  For  they 
play  in  the  bosom  of  the  guilty.  When  the  Divine  Spirit  reveals 
to  man  his  guilt,  in  the  lightning  of  his  law,  convictions  flash 
through  the  soul.  Terrors  fill  his  heart.  His  frame  is  agitated. 
His  sensations,  and  language,  and  actions  are  strangely  changed. 
But  whatever  may  be  the  phenomena  here  displayed,  they  may 
all  be  sufficiently  explained,  or  at  least  accounted  for,  without  re- 
sorting to  impulses  or  revelations.  These  are  found  in  the  first 
process  of  the  work  of  grace  on  every  christian's  heart.  But 
they  are  not  confined  to  them.  They  were  discovered  in  the 
bosom  of  Judas  :  and  they  never  cease  in  the  regions  of  despair ! 
They  display  the  convulsive  throes  of  soul  and  conscience,  strug- 
gling painfully  to  raise  itself  up,  under  an  insupportable  weight  of 
guilt  and  despair.  This  offers  a  sufficient  cause  for  the  sudden- 
ness and  terribleness  of  the  conceptions  thrown  into  the  mind. 

2.  These  phenomena  are  most  strikingly  revealed  in  periods 
when  civil  broils  convulse  church  and  state.  Every  human  pas- 
sion is  wrought  to  its  highest  pitch ;  and  men's  ears  tingle  with 
dismal  rumours  and  deeds  of  horror.  Over  these  the  gloomy 
imagination  broods  long  and  deeply :  it  collects  every  minute  de- 
tail of  circumstance  which  harrows  up  the  soul.  His  mind  be- 
comes strongly  agitated ;  he  cannot  divert  his  thoughts  from  the 
subject;  it  is  his  waking  and  his  sleeping  dream.  Certain  awful 
conceptions,  embodied  in  the  venerated  language  of  sacred  writ, 
and  adapted,  it  may  be,  in  a  wonderful  manner,  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  time  and  place,  are  created  suddenly  and  forcibly 
in  his  mind.  The  suitableness  of  the  conception,  its  unexpected 
and  sudden  appearance,  must  convince  every  body,  he  thinks, 
that  it  is  no  creation  of  his  mind ;  that  it  is  nothing  less  than  su- 
pernatural. He  broods  over  this  eternally.  The  dark  chaos  of 
his  mind  is  peopled  with  these  aerial  creatures  of  fancy  :  the  dis- 
ease increases  by  the  same  causes  which  produced  it.     The  im- 


On  Immediate  Revelations.  141 

pressions  on  the  mind  are  worn  deeper  and  deeper,  under  the 
multiplication  of  these  phantoms.  Conjectures  mount  up  into 
convictions,  and  convictions  settle  down  into  an  imperturbable 
belief  that  he  is  inspired.  His  conscience  will  let  him  no  longer 
rest :  he  must  deliver  his  message  ;  he  must  speak — or  he  will 
burst.  He  goes  forth ;  he  raises  his  voice ;  nothing  can  daunt 
him.  He  is  an  Isaiah  or  a  Paul.  "  This  is  the  word  of  the  Lord 
unto  you."* 

3.  There  is  a  constant  succession  of  ideas  floating  in  the  mind. 
The  succession  is  kept  up,  and  regulated  by  the  laws  of  associa- 
tion. Sometimes  the  circumstances  which  gave  birth  to  a  new- 
train  of  thoughts,  may  have  been  trivial ;  and,  therefore,  very 
transitory  :  but  in  that  train  of  ideas  to  which  they  gave  birth, 
some  very  interesting  thoughts  may  have  been  instantaneously 
presented  to  the  soul,  and  may  have  flashed  through  it  like  a 
sun  beam.  Former  scenes,  it  may  be,  are  called  up ;  over  which 
the  mind  bends  in  rapturous  delight.  A  house,  a  field,  consecrated 
by  some  memorable  event ;  a  plain,  a  city,  the  theatre  of  a  bat- 
tle, where  was  lost  or  won  the  liberties  of  a  country — our  native 
country,  the  spot  where  our  youthful  years  were  spent ;  whose 
every  plain,  and  streamlet,  and  hill  are  imprinted  in  the  deepest 
lines  on  our  souls — "  Dukes  reminiscitur  Argos  ;"  but  especially 
the  fond  ideas  of  friends  and  of  relations  pass  over  the  glowing 
soul  on  wings  of  fire.  The  heart  burns  with  desires  after  them ; 
the  feelings,  prompted  by  sympathy,  receive  new  impulses  from 
this  fervour  of  mind,  to  impart  some  new  discoveries  in  the  truth 
to  them  whom  it  loves,  and  whose  fate  it  deplores  as  fatally  ig- 
norant of  the  "  true  light,''''  In  this  morbid  state  of  the  feelings, 
such  will  be  the  force  of  these  impressions  on  the  tender  and  fa- 
natical mind,  that  the  man  will  have  a  firm  persuasion  that  he  is 
"  inwardly  moved''''  by  a  "  divine  call ,-"  that  he  has  "  drawings''^  to 
some  particular  place,  where  he  must  announce  his  divine  mes- 
sage.! 

♦  The  first  volume  of  Fox's  Journal  is  a  continued  illustration  by  facts 
of  this  process  in  the  vagaries  of  the  mind. 

f  In  G.  Fox's  Journal,  there  are  instances  of  this  recorded  in  almost 
every  page.  The  following  is  quoted,  being  the  one  which  actually  pre- 
sented itself  on  my  first  opening  the  book.  "  Margaret  Fell  asked  me  to 
go  with  her  to  the  steeple  house.     Irejiliedy  I  must  do  as  lam  ordered  by 


l42  On  Immediate  Revelations. 

These  feelings  are  always  strongest  in  the  soft  and  melancholjr 
mind,  and  as  the  mind  of  the  less  extravagant  in  fanaticism  is. 
usually,  of  this  complexion,  his  convictions  of  "  inward  motion,'''' 
and  a  "  divine  call,''^  will  be  so  strong  that  the  scattered  remains 
of  reason  will  be  utterly  unable  to  overrule  them;  and  the  mor- 
bid state  of  his  judgment,  will  render  the  mind  incapable  of  feel- 
ing the  force  of  arguments  levelled  against  their  folly. 

4.  To  bodily  disease  we  may  trace  some  of  these  phenomena. 
There  is  a  certain  distemper,  some  have  called  it  a  species  of 
epilepsy,  in  which,  during  a  partial,  if  not  a  total  suspension  of 
the  faculties  of  reason  and  judgment,  the  memory  continues  to 
exert  its  powers.  It  retains  the  incoherent  and  extraordinary 
ebullitions  of  fancy,  in  those  seasons,  when  by  the  influence  of 
bodily  disease,  it  roved  unrestrained  by  the  higher  powers  of 
reason  and  judgment.  The  man  holds  dialogues  with  invisible 
beings ;  he  hears  and  replies  to  the  soft  voice  of  angels.  On  his 
shattered  organs,  soft  music  as  that  from  the  fancied  lute  of 
Apollo,  thrills  its  notes.  Visions  flit  before  his  eyes,  and  send 
forth  voices  on  the  empty  air;  in  his  sombre  moments  the  mate- 
rial objects  on  which  his  heavy  eye  rested,  recede  and  in  the 
distant  and  awful  perspective,  a  heaven,  or  it  may  be,  a  hell,  is 
presented  to  his  mind  ;  with  some  of  their  inmates,  formerly  his 
associates.  In  the  hour  of  solitude  he  whispers  converse  with 
departed  friends.*  It  is  the  wild  play  of  imagination,  unkennel- 
ed, and  racing  furiously  over  the  distempered  brain;  and  the 
memory,  which  fails  totally  in  all  the  common  cases  of  epilepsy, 
retaining  its  influence  here,  preserves  the  images  and  movements 
of  these  extraordinary  conceptions ;  and  hence  the  man  can  de- 
tail them  after  the  fit  is  over.  In  George  Fox's  Journal,!  there 
are  set  down  by  an  honest  hand  as  distinct  a  diagnosis  and  prog- 
nosis of  the  disease  I  allude  to,  as  ever  Doctor  Rush  discovered 

the  Lord  So  Heft  her  arid  walked  into  the  fields.  And  the  word  of  the 
Lord  came  unto  me,  saying  ''go  to  the  steeple  house  after  them.*''  Vol. 
i.  p.  181.  Margaret  F  il  became,  in  process  of  time,  George  Fox's  wife. 
No  person  can  doubt  that  George  had  "drawi7igs"  to  the  "  steejile  house." 

*  Almost  every  neighbourhood  presents  cases  of  this  kind,  where  bru- 
tish intemper mce  has  shattered  the  organ  of  the  brain.  Two  have  fallen 
under  my  own  observation  in  New  Jersey. 

t  Vol.'  i.  p.  94,  99,  103,  220,  &c. 


On  Immediate  Revelations.  148 

ill  the  case  (and  it  was,  as  every  medical  man  believes,  with  the 
Doctor,  a  clear  case)  of  Swedenburgh.* 

Over  fallen  minds  a  generous  opponent  can  possess  no  other 
feelings  than  sympathy  and  pity.  Their  wildest  vagaries  we 
let  pass  ;  we  allow  them  the  throne  and  the  sceptre ;  we  let  them 
become  generals  and  dictators  ;  we  let  them  even  talk  of  sending 
us  rain  and  fair  weather ;  but  Avhen  they  stalk  forth  apostles  and 
prophets,  and  bring  a  new  gospel,  and  when  men  worse  than 
they,  yield  them  faith,  and  sing  them  hosannahs — nay,  then 
they  are  no  longer  to  be  suffered;  they  become  lawful  game,  and 
we  may  hunt  them,  provided  that  we  do  it  with  perfect  good  will  to 
their  persons,  and  use  no  other  weapons  than  irony  and  syllo- 
gisms, and  above  all  sacred  Scripture. 

Second — Real  impulses — but  produced  by  demons. 
While  the  fallen  angels  are  retained  in  hades  under  chains  of 
darkness,  their  present  condition  is  doubtless  very  different  from 
what  it  will  be  in  tartarusA  They  are  permitted  certain  liber- 
ties. "  They  go  to  and  fro  throvgh  the  earth,''''  and  in  their  inter- 
course with  our  species  they  manifest  an  implacable  hostility. 
"  77ie  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air  works  in  the  children  of  disobedir 
ence.^''l  This  is  not  to  be  limited  to  his  more  ordinary  and  com- 
mon exertions  to  seduce  men ;  it  may  certainly  be  extended  to 
his  every  effort  to  uphold  his  falling  throne  by  force  and  by  cun- 
ning, as  the  lion  and  the  serpent  :§  by  force  when  he  lords  it  over 
our  deluded  species,  and  overwhelms  them  with  the  fury  of  his 
open  assaults:  by  cunning  when  "/le  transforms  himself  into  an 
angel  of  light,''''  or  officiates  in  pagan  lands  as  prophet  and  priest, 
at  the  shrine  of  superstition  and  idolatry.  It  is  to  this  last  that 
I  refer. 

He  has  from  time  to  time  taken  possession  of  persons  ;  he  has 
employed  the  engine  of  impulses  and  inspirations  ;  these  he  has 
covered  with  the  plausibility  and  light  of  some  useful  portions  of 
knowledge,  and  some  imposing  cases  of  conjecture  or  prediction. 
He  has  thus  extended  his  reign  over  the  fair  fields  of  reason  and 

*  Dv.  Rush  on  the  Diseases  of  the  Mind. 

j-  See  Dr.  Campbell  on  the  distinction  between  hades  and  gehenna  or 
tartarus,  in  his  Dissert,  prefixed  to  his  new  translation  of  the  Gospels. 
X  Eph.  ii.  2.  See  Zanch.  and  Pol.  Synops.  in  loc. 

*  1  Pet.  V.  8.  Rev.  xx.  2. 


i44  On  Immediate  Revelations. 

truth :  and  he  has  bound  the  Gentiles  under  the  triple  chains  of 
ignorance,  supe  stiiioi!  and  idolatry! 

t.  He  has  taken  possession  of  persons,  and  through  them  he 
has  poured  forth  his  influences  like  an  overflowing  torrent,  on 
the  human  mn  d.  This  is  illustrated  by  the  otherwise  unac- 
countable practices  of  the  "  Pythones,""  v,  ho  uttered  their  oracles 
from  their  dens  at  Colophon,  at  Dodona,  and  at  Delphi.*  And 
it  is  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  history  of  the  demoniacs  recorded 
in  the  New  Testament.  Dr.  Farmer  has  indeed,  advanced  a 
new  theory  on  this  subject  He  rejects  the  doctrine  of  a  real 
possession  by  demons;  he  is  of  opinion  "  that  the  style  employed 
in  describing  these  diseases,  is  adapted  to  popular  prejudices, 
and  used  to  describe  a  natural  disorder."! 

But  there  are  in  these  cases  circum;;tances  utterly  unaccount- 
able on  this  hypothesis.  The  demoniacs  were  not  labouring  un- 
der a  mere  bodily  disease ;  there  was  something  more.  There 
were  in  them  certain  beings,  distinct  from  their  souls  and  their 
bodies ;  beings  which  expressed  desires  and  passions  of  their 
own;  which  conversed  rationally  with  Christ;  which  rendered 
him  homage.  These  are  not  the  acts  of  insane  me^i.  Moreover, 
they  deprecated  their  expulsion  ;  they  begged  of  him  that  they 
might  be  disposed  of  in  a  certain  way :  they  craved  permission 
to  enter  into  the  herd  of  swine  :  they  did  go  out:  they  did  enter 
into  the  swine  :  and  in  one  case  we  discover  a  demoniacal  pos- 
session, unaccompanied  by  any  bodily  disease.  Even  her  mind 
was  calm,  and  she  procured  much  gain  to  her  master  by  divina- 
tion, and  the  name  given  by  sacred  writ  to  this  demon — "7ry6«»" 
indicates  that  he  was  specifically  the  same  with  those  which  pre- 
sided over  the  oracle  of  Apollo,  at  Delphi;  and  there  are  no 
facts  to  bear  out  the  supposition,  that  these  Pythons  laboured 
under  bodily  diseases.  The  truth  is,  the  impulses  of  the  demons 
produced  the  bodily  distempers  and  convulsions  of  the  priest- 
esses. Dr.  Farmer's  theory  makes  the  bodily  convulsions  to  be 
the  cause  of  the  impulses,  and  to  create  the  oracles  ! 

*  Pausan.  Hist,  of  Greece,  vol.iii.  p.  353.  duod.  edit.  Lond.  Horn, 
Iliad.  \\h.  xvi.  ver.  234.  Opsnpeus  Coll.  of  Orac.  quoted  by  Pansan. 
Hist,  of  Greece,  vol.  iii.  p.  334  notes.  Relig.  of  the  Greeks  by  Le  Clerc, 
Sept.  p.  ■?42,  8ic. 

f  Dr.  Firmer  on  Demoniacs,  8cc.  and  Dr.  Campbell's  Gosp,  vol.  i...p'. 
251,  and  Jortin's  Remarks  on  Eccles.  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  10,  &c. 


On  Immediate  Revelations.  145 

2.  Impelled  by  evil  spirits,  the  demoniacs  have  uttered  por- 
tions of  useful  knowledge  and  have  predicted  future  events,  la 
the  lirst  case  it  was  easy  to  succeed  -,  in  the  last  they  were  not 
always  successful.  In  instances  by  far  the  most  numerous,  they 
covered  their  ignorance  under  a  jargon  of  ambiguity.  "  Callide 
qui  ilia  oracula  composuit,  perfecit  ut  quodcunque  accidisset  prr 
dictum  videretur,"  says  TuUy  ;*  while  human  weakness  and  su 
perstition,  heightened  by  the  sombre  air  of  his  consecrated  cells, 
or  overpowered  by  the  pomp  and  solemnity  of  his  temples,  have 
received  his  responses  with  adoration  ;  and  moved  by  them,  have 
resolved  on  peace  or  war,  and  have  determined  the  fates  of  na- 
tions, by  giving  them  liberty,  or  by  putting  them  under  the  yoke 
of  tyranny. 

That  evil  spirits  have  the  disposition  to  do  this,  cannot  be  ques- 
tioned. That  they  are  physically  able  to  do  it,  is  a  supposition 
neither  irrational  nor  improbable.  To  efi'ect  it,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary that  they  should  be  omniscient  or  omnipresent.  Myriads 
can  be  called  into  action ;  and  they  must  have  an  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  the  human  mind.  They  have  been  studying  it 
these  six  thousand  years  ! 

They  have,  moreover,  been  inspecting,  for  ages,  the  political 
movements  of  all  nations :  and,  as  has  been  shrewdly  observed 
by  Hume,  "  the  wars,  the  negociations  and  politics  of  one  age, 
resemble,  in  a  striking  manner,  those  of  another."!  The  reason 
is  obvious.  In  all  these  the  turbulent  passions  of  men  are  the 
prime  movers ;  and  these  passions  are  the  same  in  every  age, 
and  are  equally  stubborn  and  intractable,"!  and  will,  of  course, 
lead  to  the  same  general  results.  Hence,  by  observing  the  pre- 
dominant passions  of  the  age,  and  anticipating  the  same  effects 
from  the  same  causes,  these  spirits  might  readily  conjecture  the 
fate  of  nations,  as  well  as  of  individuals  and  societies.  In  pro- 
portion as  the  probable  effects  of  the  causes  might  appear  more 
evident,  they  could  utter  their  responses  more  clearly.  As  they 
might  be  more  doubtful,  they  could  clothe  them  in  ambiguity. 
"  Adhibuerunt  etiam  latebram  obscuritatis  ut  idem  versus  alias  in 


*  De  Divin.  lib.  2. 

f  Essays,  vol.  i.  p.  110. 

%  Miller's  Retrosp.  vol.  i.  p.  9. 

22 


146  On  Immediate  Hevelatwns. 

aliam  rem  posse  accomodari  vidcrentur."*  And  if  llie  issue 
should  prove  disastrous,  contrary  to  the  more  obvious  import  of 
the  words,  the  honour  of  the  oracle  might  be  saved,  and  the  head- 
strong interpreter  must  bear  the  blame  of  perverting  the  will  of 
the  God.t 

In  declaring  incidents  which  are  taking  place  at  a  distance ;  in 
disclosing  secrets  in  the  lives  of  individuals,  as  for  instance  acts  of 
theft,  or  of  murder,  these  oracles  would  be  more  successful.  Le- 
gions of  them  hover  in  the  air,  on  the  deep,  and  over  the  face  of 
nations.  The'se  can  detail  to  their  prince,  or  to  their  worship- 
pers, deeds  which  none  but  these  invisible  beings  witnessed.  To 
predict  incidents  of  this  nature,  therefore,  comes  fairly  within  the 
range  of  their  power.]: 

They  would  find  it  an  easier  matter  still  to  designate  to  an  en- 
quiring people,  a  chief,  eminent  for  military  prowess  :§  or  to  si 
senate,  a  sage  of  great  moral  and  pohtical  wisdom :  or  to  dictate 
a  wholesome  law,  to  pronounce  a  wise  saying,  to  disclose  a  por- 
tion of  fair  science.  The  prince  of  the  fallen  angels  "  was  edu- 
cated in  the  best  divinity  school  of  the  universe."i|  He  is,  doubt- 
less, well  acquainted  with  the  Scriptures,  with  the  writings  of  the 
sages  of  ancient  fame,  and  with  the  laws  of  different  states.  There, 
is  nothing  irrational  in  supposing  that  he  has  actually  extracted 
sentences  from  these  ;  which,  while  the  interests  of  his  kingdom 
would  not  suffer  by  them,  would  bind  his  admiring  devotees  more 
strongly  to  the  services  of  his  throne  ;  nay,  it  would  be  a  matter 
of  wonder  to  us,  did  we  not  find  the  prince  of  the  fallen  spirits 
dictating  oracles  full  of  penetration  and  wisdom,  and  calculated 
to  excite  the  admiration  of  Greece  and  of  Rome ! 

This  doctrine  is  as  scriptural  as  it  is  rational.  "  If  there  arise 
among  you  a  prophet  or  a  dreamer  of  dreams,  and  giveth  thee  a 
sign  or  a  wonder,  and  the  sign  or  the  wonder  come  to  pass :" — 

*  Tully  ni:  sup. 

f  The  following  are  specimens  of  this  play  of  Loxias  :  "  Dir.o  te,  ffia- 
cida,  Ronianos  vincere  posse."  "  Croesus  penetrans  Halym  magnam  per- 
verteret  opum  vim."  These  make  equally  for  and  against  the  persons 
addressed. 

±  Pausan.  Hist.  Greece,  vol.  i.  p.  96,  octavo,  Lond.  John  de  Mey 
Comment.  Phvsic.     Pentateurhi  Mos.  vol.i.  p.  158.  Queen's  Coll.  Libr. 

§  Cornel.  >fep.  vit.  Miltiad. 

Ij  Said  that  profound  theologian  President  Edwards. 


On  Immediate  Revelations.  147 

'^  There  shall  arise  false  prophets,  who  shall  show  great  signs 
and  wonders" — "  That  wicked  shall  be  revealed,  whose  coming 
is  after  the  working  of  Satan  with  all  power,  and  signs,  and  lying 
wonders."* 

And  1  do  not  see  what  can  be  opposed  to  the  statements  of  an- 
cient writers  on  this  article.  Historians,  civil  and  ecclesiastical, 
have  recorded  oracles  which  were  accomplished  with  much  ex- 
actness; and  were  of  great  political  consequence,  and  often  of  a 
salutary  and  moral  tendency.! 

Our  conclusion  from  the  preceding  remarks  is  this  :  demoniacs 
may  utter  predictions  and  even  valuable  truths.  Moral  and  po- 
litical benefits  may  result  from  them.  But  our  judgment  of  these 
oracles  is  not  to  be  formed  from  these  partial  benefits ;  but  from 
their  general  tendencies,  and  from  the  effects  actually  resulting 
from  the  whole.  We  ought  never  to  lose  sight  of  this  fact,  that 
they  were  distinguished  by  their  opposition  to  genuine  truth  ;  and 
to  the  honour  of  the  one  living  and  true  God ;  and  to  the  eternal 
happiness  of  man.  Those  very  benefits  which  they  conferred, 
helped  on  the  delusion:  like  the  vapour's  flash,  at  the  midnight 
hour,  they  shed  a  light  over  the  benighted  wanderer.  He  sees 
the  light  and  rejoices  in  the  unexpected  aid.  But  his  gratitude 
is  soon  displaced  by  the  appalling  discovery,  that  it  has  lighted 
him  on  to  his  destruction.  The  favour  conferred — death. 

Hence  if  an  individual,  or  a  sect,  bring  forward  predictions  and 
signs  in  support  of  a  new  gospel,  we  admit  the  possibility  of  these 
wonders.  We  admit  their  probability ;  and  on  evidence,  we  ad- 
mit frankly  their  truth.  But  we  know  distinctly  to  what  spirit 
we  are  to  refer  them,  and  we  class  them  accordingly  with  the 
■miracles  of  Greece  and  Rome. 

§  3. — By  these  preliminary  observations  T  have  gained  two 
objects.  First :  we  can  now  disentangle  the  question  from  the 
extraneous  matter  mixed  with  it.  We  are  not  to  enquire  whether 
there  is  an  extraordinary  dispensation  of  the  Spirit  in  the  new 
economy  :  nor  whether  the  believer  is  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 

*  Deut.  xiii.  1.     Matth.  xxiv.  24.     2  Thess.  ii.  8,  9.     See  also  1  Sam 
xviii.  10. 
t  Note  C,  appendix  1. 


148  On  Immediate  Revelations. 

as  his  secret  instructor:  nor  whether  the  energies  of  th«  Holy 
Ghost  be  exerted  in  an  immediate  operation  on  the  mind  in  the 
process  of  regeneration :  nor  whether  there  be  occasionally,  a 
communication  from  the  Deity  in  the  form  of  a  premonition  to  a 
pious  mind.  The  question  simply  respects  immediate  ohjecfive  re- 
velations, which  are  specifically  the  same  with  those  of  the  pro- 
phets and  apostles.  And  on  this  question  we  arc  not  to  enquire 
whether  the  existence  of  such  revelations  be  possible  :  or  whether 
christians  might  not  have  them  ;  or  at  least,  ought  to  have  them.* 

To  institute  such  an  enquiry  Would  betray  arrogance  and  pre- 
sumption. It  would  argue  a  great  degree  of  folly.  It  would, 
besides,  serve  no  valuable  end.  What  historian  ever  began  his 
narrative  by  an  enquiry  into  the  possibility  of  the  existence  of 
the  nation  whose  history  he  is  going  to  write.  It  cannot  be  ques- 
tioned that  the  Almighty,  on  condition  of  his  being"  willing,  can 
now  as  much  as  ever,  endue  men  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  But  the 
possibility  or  the  probability  of  things,  does  not  determinate  the 
certainty  of  them.  The  simple  question  is  :  Has  every  christian 
the  gift  of  immediate  objective  revelations,  which  s}iggest  to  him  his  eve- 
ry word  and  action?  The  affirmative  of  this  is  taken  by  every 
Quaker.     It  is  the  grand  shibboleth  of  the  sect.t 

Second:  the  other  object  gained  is  this  :  we  can  readily  dispose 
of  all  those  arguments,  which  go  to  prove  nothing  more  than  what 

*  Barclay  has  thus  unfairly  shifted  the  question,  (Prop.  ii.  sect.  13.) 
from  i\\ft  fact  \.o\.\\i: possibility  of  the  thing. 

f  The  proud  claims  of  the  sect  are  thus  advanced  :  they  have  "  imme- 
diate revelations  which  are  not  to  be  subjected  to  the  test  of  reason  or 
t)f  scripture,  as  a  more  noble  or  certain  rule."  The  scriptures  may  '«  be 
helpful  and  profitable."  But  they  have  such  "  inw.ard  knowledge  of  God 
by  revelation,  that  there  is  no  absolute  necessity  of  any  written  rule."  See 
Apol.  Prop.  ii.  Tliesis.  and  sect  15,  p.  76,  and  sect.  4.  p.  40.  Penn  thus 
speaks  plainly  out.  "  The  scriptures  cannot  be  called  a  revelation  of 
God's  will,  till  they  are  first  opened  by  him  who  is  the  sfiirit  of  truth  ;" 
that  is  their  inward  light.  See  his  works,  vol.  ii.  p.  27.  As  to  the  speci- 
fic nature  of  these  revelations,  they  tell  us  that  they  are  the  same  as  those 
of  Moses,  and  of  .Vbraham,  and  of  Stephen.  Bar!  Apol.  Prop.  ii.  sect  10 
and  11. — Burrough's  w,)iks,  folio,  p.  58,  says,  "  the  same  spirit  by  which 
they,  (he  is  speaking  of  Moses  and  Jeremiah)  were  acted,  acts  us  (the 
Quakers)  in  the  same  way  according  to  its  measures."  "  The  gospel 
ii'hich  they  (the  Quakers)  y/rrccA,  they  have  not  received  from  men,  nor 
from  book.'i,  nor  fro >n  writings,  but  by  the  rei^elation  of  ,fesus  Christ  in 
THEM."  Peun  liotnologates  these  words  of  Ciibson  as  the  common  senti- 
ments of  the  societv  *•  Sure  1  am,"  says  Penn,  "  that  this  assertion  of 
Gibson  is  right"     Vol.  ii.  p.  472. 


On  Immediate  Hevelaiions.  149 

'is  admitted  by  us  respecting  the  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
the  operations  of  our  own  minds,  and  the  apparent  or  real  im- 
pulses of  demons.  We  are  to  reject  them  as  unnecessary  encum- 
brances on  the  question  under  discussion. 

§  4. — These  claims  of  the  leading  Quakers  are  bold  and  dar- 
ing* But  how  are  they  sustained  ?  It  is  one  thing  to  come  for- 
ward fearlessly  and  unblushingly  as  an  apostle.  It  is  another 
thing  to  support  the  high  claims. 

The  shortest  process,  and  certainly  the  most  correct,  would 
have  been  to  come  out  with  miracles  and  predictions.  This  w'ould 
have  settled  the  point.  In  this  manner  the  prophets  of  the  Lord 
did  settle  the  point  of  dispute  between  them  and  their  audiences. 
They  acted  on  this  plain  principle :  claims  to  supernatural  powers 
demand  supernatural  proofs.  We  come  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  We  bring  his  gospel  to  you.  We  declare  that  our  mes- 
sage is  from  the  court  of  heaven.  We  bring  you  proofs.  Bring 
hither  your  lame,  and  your  blind,  and  your  deaf,  and  we  shall 
heal  them.  Bring  out  your  demoniacs,  and  we  shall  cast  out  the 
demons  by  the  power  of  Jesus  Christ.  Bring  up  your  dead,  and 
in  his  name  we  shall  restore  them  alive  to  your  arms.  Or  thejr 
raised  their  voice  with  "  thus  saith  the  Lord :"  and  spoke  to  remote 
ages :  and  delivered  to  the  church  a  testimony  that  blossomed 
afresh  in  every  succeeding  generation.  They  disclosed  a  long 
line  of  prophecies,  which  were  accomplished  in  the  evolutions  of 
Providence.  And  every  new  generation  thus  witnessed  fresh 
proofs  of  their  divine  commission.  All  this  they  did :  and  they 
sustained  the  high  character  of  ambassadors  from  God  to  men. 

But  the  founders  of  this  sect  who  rival  the  claims  and  honours 
of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  brought  no  proofs  of  this  nature. 
They  were  asked  for  the  proofs  of  authority  from  heaven  to  sup- 
port their  new  gospel ;  thej'  offered  laboured  and  wordy  decla- 
mations ;  they  annoyed  human  patience  with  black  letter  syllo- 
gism, or  they  prosed  men  to  death  with  their  dull  lectures;  or 
they  terrified  the  superstitious  by  prophetic  maledictions.  They 
brought  no  miracles ;  they  offered  no  prophecies  of  great  and 
holy  events  to  come ! 

Penn  was  evidently  perplexed  with  this  dilemma.  Constrained 


150  On  Immediate  Revelations. 

by  his  good  sense  to  admit  that  "  miracles  are  the  only  evi- 
dence of  revelations,  he  would  nevertheless  insist  that  there  were 
some  prophets  who  did  not  work  any  miracles  :* — Ay !  but  they 
predicted  future  events.  He  was  aware  of  this  also,  and  floun- 
dering through  an  argument  that  sunk  under  him  at  every  step — 
out  he  comes  at  last,  in  a  sullen  mood,  very  unexpectedly  in  be- 
half of  signs  supernatural.  "  Miracles,"  said  he,  "  are  ceased 
only  as  visions  are  ceased ;  that  is,  only  to  those  who  have  no 
faith.  Some  have  known,  and  some  do  know  the  power  of  taking 
up  their  sick  beds  and  walking ;  their  faith  made  them  whole.'*! 
Yes !  and  they  have  their  miracles  on  register — ay  !  and  signs 
marvellous,  as  the  omen  attending  the  death  of  that  "  demon  of 
msdom,  that  divine  man,'*''  and  progenitor  of  the  society,  Plotinus. 
"  Spectatum  admissi  risum  teneatis  amici  l"^: 

•  Vol.  ii.  p.  38. 

t  Vol.  ii.  p.  39. 

+  "  A  small  serpent  that  had  been  concealed  under  his  bed  wandered 
through  a  hole  in  the  wall,  and  disappeared!"  This  is  recorded  by  Tay- 
lor (Plat.  Phil.  vol.  ii.  p.  218,  quarto)  who  laboured  to  put  down  "  super- 
stition," and  to  revive  paganism,  in  A.  D.  1793.  Fox  Jour,  has  a  regis- 
ter of  miracles.  Sec  his  Index  "  Miracles,  sfiirit  of  discerning,  visions, 
rain,  iJfc."  A  priest  "went  mad"  in  the  pulpit  because  he  spoke  against 
their  inward  light.  It  would  have  been  something  more  worthy  and  clever 
if  he  had  restored  the  man  to  his  senses.  A  woman  was  tormented  by  a 
spirit  of  distraction  ;  George  bade  her  be  quiet  and  still.  In  process  of 
time  she  mended.  Myers  with  the  lame  arm  sat  once  licfore  him;  George 
cried  with  a  reasonably  loud  voice,  stand  up  on  thy  legs;  and  his  arm  was 
made  whole.  It  made  no  difference  with  George;  had  the  man's  foot  been 
lame,  George  would  have  commanded  him  to  stretch  out  his  arm,  and 
his  foot  would  probably  have  been  restored.  The  unfortunate  Jay  fell 
from  his  horse  and  broke  his  neck.  George  wrung  it  round  to  its  place, 
and  the  man  soon  pursued  his  journey.  He  gives  us  only  these  moderate 
samples  ;  but  the  ^^  devils  were  7nade  subject,"''  and  other  things  took  place 
which  he  does  not  record  "  because  this  unbelieving  age  is  not  able  to  re- 
ceive them  nor  bear  them."  (vol.  i.  p.  118.)  \'\'hat  a  morsel  would  this 
have  been  for  Hume's  Essay  on  Miracles.  The  industrious  man  has,  with 
infinite  pains,  gleaned  from  the  pages  of  the  pagans  and  Romanists  certain 
marvellous  acts  and  things,  the  rivals  of  our  Lord's  miracles.  He  has 
there  the  wonders  of  the  Paphlagonian,  and  wf  the  emperor  Vespasian. 
He  has  there.the  holy  oil  of  Sar.igossa,  tliat  only  made  afresh  natural 
limb  sjiring  out  like  a  mushroom  from  the  old  stumft;  and  he  has  there 
the  gossip  stories  of  the  tomb  of  the  Abhe  Paris.*  And  he  has  not  oi>e 
case  from  George  Fox  I  Great  men  have  not  always  their  wits  about 
them  ;  neither  had  Hume;  had  he  thrown  the  shield  (jf  such  miracles  as 
those  of  Fox,  on  his  open  flank,  would  he  have  fallen  so  soon  by  the  steel 
of  Campbell  ? 


*  Hume's  Essay  on  Mir.  and  Campbell's  Refutation,  part  2.  sect.  4. 


On  Immediate  Revelations.  151 

But  the  prophets  of  the  society  have  grown  wiser.  Time  and 
experience  have  brought  the  healing  conviction  that  neither 
miracles  nor  predictions  are  at  their  controul ;  and  hence,  like 
common  men  they  descend  into  the  arena  and  battle  it  with  men 
by  the  dull  weapons  of  reason  and  syllogism!* 

Their  defence  of  their  favourite  point  is  set  up  in  two  forms. 
First — "  We  bring  no  new  gospel  ;  we  bring  only  that  which  was 
confirmed  by  the  miracles  of  Christ  and  his  apostles.  You  can- 
not demand  miracles  of  us.  All  that  we  advance  we  can  make 
good  from  the  scriptures.!  In  this  brief  sentence  there  are  three 
errors.  1st.  They  do  bring  a  new  gospel  ;J  and  the  very  terms 
"  immediate  objective  revelations*^  imply  that  new  matter  is  brought 
to  the  inspired  mind  ;  if  there  is  not,  there  can  be  no  propriety  in 
using  these  terms  on  this  subject.  2d.  Individual  claims  to  such 
gifts  must  have  individual  proofs.  The  miracles  of  our  Lord 
and  his  apostles  can  no  more  establish  the  claims  of  modern  in- 
spirati,  than  the  proofs  of  David's  royal  authority  can  those  of 
John  of  Munster  to  be  king  of  Zion  in  Germany!  3d.  It  is  great 
extravagance  to  offer  a  text  to  prove  a  personal  fact.  "  We  are 
apostles,  and  we  will  prove  it  by  a  text !"  We  may  on  the  same 
principles  expect  to  hear  a  tailor  quote  Plato  to  prove  that  he  is 
an  expert  and  fashionable  tailor !  But  seriously,  the  society  be- 
lieve that  those  revelations  are  not  to  be  subjected  to  the  test  of 
scripture,  as  to  something  more  certain.  Pray,  how  can  they 
venture  on  a  proof  of  them  from  scripture  ?  and  in  reference  to 
the  matter  of  these  revelations,  it  is  in  the  Bible,  or  it  is  not; 
if  it  is,  there  is  no  necessity  of  becoming  apostles  and  pro- 
phets to  find  it  out.  If  it  is  not,  it  is  of  the  angel  of  darkness, 
and  comes  under  the  fearful  malediction  of  the  departing  spirit  of 
prophecy.  "  If  any  man  shall  add  to  these  things,  God  shall  add 
to  him  the  plagues  that  are  written  in  this  book.§ 

Their  second  mode  of  defence.  We  distinguish  between  the 

*  When  Penn  entered  the  lists  against  Reeves  and  Mu^p:]eton,  the  no- 
torious rivals  of  the  early  Quakers,  he  insisted  upon  visible  miracles  to 
confirm  their  divine  commission,  Penn,  vol.  ii.  p.  178. 

t  Apol.  Prop.  ii.  sect.  12,  p.  310,  and  Penn  vol.  ii.  p.  48,  contrasted 
with  his  contradiction  of  this  in  p.  61  and  p.  241. 

4:  See  chap.  vii.  following  in  proof  of  this. 

§  Revel,  xxii.  18. 


152  On  Immediate  Revelations, 

thesis  and  hypothesis.  It  is  one  thing  to  say  that  revelations  are 
certain  and  infallible ;  and  another  thing  to  affirm  that  such  a 
person,  or  such  a  people,  has  them.  The  first  only  is  asserted  by 
us,  say  the  Friends :  the  last  may  be  questioned.* 

This  disingenuous  shifting  of  the  questions  by  Barclay,  does 
in  fact,  upset  their  own  theory,  and  it  resolves  the  whole  ques- 
tion under  discussion  into  these  truisms.  Revelations  are  reve- 
lations ;  what  comes  from  God  does  surely  come  from  him ;  in- 
fallible is  infallible,  and  that  which  is  certain  is  certain  !  The 
whole  sect  cries  out  against  this.  Their  proud  claims  to  infalli- 
ble inspirations  were  the  chief  causes  of  the  severe  sufferings  of 
their  forefathers.  Fox  cries  out  against-  him ;  his  every  motion; 
as  well  of  body  as  of  mind,  was  guided  by  these.  Their  minis- 
try cry  out  against  him  ;  they  were  "  inspired  by  that  which  gave 
out  the  scriptures,"  and  "  by  this  power  of  the  Lord  they  were 
to  throw  down  teachings,  and  churches  and  worship."!  Pena 
cries  out  against  him  ;  his  whole  career  was  enlightened  by  them.J 
Barclay's  theory  cries  out  against  it;§  nay  to  crown  the  climax 
of  absurdity,  the  good  man  of  Dry  himself,  so  far  from  giving  up 
personal  claims  on  this  point,  does  actually  plant  himself  by  the 
side  of  John  the  apostle,  and  does  claim  for  his  writings  what 
John  did  for  his.  "  What  I  have  heard  with  the  ears  of  my  soul," 
says  Barclay,  "and  seen  with  my  inward  eyes,  and  my  hands 
have  handled  of  the  word  of  life,  and  ivhat  hath  been  inwardly 
manifested  to  me  of  the  things  of  God,  that  do  I  tZec/are. "|| 

In  short  there  is  not  a  book  sanctioned  by  the  society,  that 
does  not  claim  the  honours  of  revelation.  And  there  is  not  a 
preacher,  of  either  sex,  who  does  not  come  forward  before  the 

•  Bar.  Apol.  Prop.  ii.  sect.  13. 

f  Fox's  Jo\ir.  i.  p.  .S.iB. 

t  And  the  Following  rare  specimen  will  show  what  ideas  he  entertain- 
ed of  his  brother  prophets.  A  writer  had  held  up  to  public  execration 
the  curves  of  one  of  their  prophets  ai^iiinst  the  ministry  of  the  Episcopal 
church,  and  had  remarked  th  it  such  language  could  not  ])roceed  from  a 
chiistian.  Penn  replied,  "  Tliongh  they  were  a  thousand  times  more 
sharp  against  that  accursed  stock  of  hirelings,  they  had  been  but  enough, 
and  I  would  then  say  not  enough;  but  that  the  reverence  I  bear  to  the  Ho- 
ly Spirit  would  oblige  me  to  acquiesce  in  whatever  he  should  utter  through 
any  prophet  or  servant  of  the  Lord."     Penn,  vol.  ii.  p.  70, 

§  His.  Thes.  and  prop.  ii. 

\]  Apol.  Ded.  and  Epist.  to  the  reader. 


On  ImmediatP'  Revelations.  153 

public  with  the  most  perfect  conviction,  that  he  is  as  much  inspir- 
ed as  Isaiah  or  Paul  was ;  and  that  what  he  is  about  to  utter,  is 
of  as  much  weight  as  the  messages  of  Isaiah  or  of  Paul.  Every 
Quaker  knows  this.  There  is  a  perfect  understanding  on  this 
point  between  the  preachers  and  the  body  of  the  people.  They 
practise  on  it  daily.  They  cany  it  into  the  common  forms  of 
speaking.  When  a  favourite  prophet  comes  and  announces  him- 
self, he  offers  no  promises  of  a  discourse.  He  announces  a  meet- 
ing. He  can  do  no  more.  Neither  he,  nor  any  of  them  can  di- 
vine what  they  shall  hear,  nor  Avhether  they  shall  hear  any  thing. 
It  is  not  certain  that  there  shall  be  an  impulse.  And  if  there 
should  be,  he  has  no  assurance  that  it  will  light  on  him,  in  pre- 
ference to  the  humblest  handmaid  of  the  meeting ! 

§  5.  Besides  the  radical  defects  of  these  main  arguments,  the 
following  will  exhibit  a  specimen  of  the  palpable  errors  in  the 
conducting  of  their  argument  in  defence  of  their  revelations. 

1.  They  invariably  confound  the  special  influences  of  the  Spi- 
rit with  his  supernatural  or  physical  gifts.  They  set  out  to  prove 
that  they  have  the  revelations  of  the  ancient  prophets.  And  they 
prove  what  no  christian  evei-  denied,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  rests 
in  his  influences  on  every  good  man.  They  profess  to  mount  on 
the  same  wing  with  Isaiah  and  Paul.  Their  waxen  wings  give 
way,  and  they  crawl  disabled  on  the  earth.*  The  fact  is,  while 
they  maintain  their  opinions  by  assertions  bold  and  stiff,  they  al- 
ways contrive,  in  the  argument,  to  shift  the  main  difficulty  of  the 
question. — Penn  and  Barclay  tell  us,  with  a  flourish,  that  they 
will  establish  the  certainty  and  infallibility  of  their  revelations. 
The  latter  after  struggling  into  the  difficulty,  comes  out,  and  with 
infinite  modesty  tells  us,  that  he  makes  no  personal  claims  for 
themselves.  (Though  by  the  way,  we  have  seen  that  he  writes 
by  inspiration.)  There  art  revelations.  He  does  not  say  that 
they  have  them.  "  The  question  is  not,  who  are,  or  who  are  not  led  ; 
hut  rchether  all  ought,  and  may  be  guided  by  the  »S'/)tV(7."t  And  thus 
all  the  machinery,  and  the  whole  battery  of  syllogism,  are  put 
into  their  heavy  operation  to  defend  a  position  that  not  even  a 

*  Apol.  Prop.  ii.  sect.  1,  4,  5,  6,  and  Penn  vol.  ii.  p.  61, 
+  Apol,  p.  §7. 

23 


154*  On  Immediate  Revelations. 

king's  fool  would  have  attacked  :  namely,  infallibility  in  wkere  it  is, 
and  certain  revelations  are  with  him  who  has  certain  revelations.  And 
the  former,  having  planted  himself  in  a  sure  position,  and  in  a 
most  threatening  attitude,  exhausts  all  his  strength  in  beating  the 
air ;  turning  his  back  on  the  Quaker  position,  he  puts  forth  all 
the  powers  of  reason,  and  employs  thirty  nine  texts  of  sacred 
writ,  and  spends  nineteen  quarto  pages  to  prove  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  "  certain  and  infallible  in  his  operations.'"*  It  does  not 
appear  to  have  struck  him  that  he  ought  to  prove  that  they  pos- 
sessed those  infallible  gifts  of  the  Spirit.  That  is  left  to  the  good- 
natured  readers  gratuitous  conclusion ! 

2.  They  use,  as  synonymous  terms,  words  that  convey  very 
different  ideas.     They  confound,  for  instance,  the  terms  spirit 
and  law,  and  guide;  cause  and  object;  form  and  matter;  light 
and  grace  and  Christ.     These  are  jumbled  together  on  their 
mystic  pages,  and  produce  an  effect  like  that  which  must  have 
taken  place  at  the  confusion  of  tongues  at  Babel.     "  The  spirit 
is  the  rule ;"  "  the  light  is  the  rule  ;"  "  Christ  is  the  light ;"  "  Christ 
in  us  is  the  only  word  of  God,  and  is  our  rule;"  "objective  reve- 
lations are  the  spirit :"  "  the  spirit  is  the  object  of  revelation."! 
There  is  a  double  error  in  all  this  ;  it  is  impious — it  is  absurd.  The 
impiety  consists  in  its  bringing  up  their  heresy,  which  confounds 
the  sacred  persons  of  the  most  Holy  Trinity,  and  which  reduces 
the  sacred  person  of  the  Son,  and  the  sacred  person  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  into  a  single  virtue,  or  a  grace.     The  absurdity  lies  in 
making  not  the  revelations  of  the  spirit,  but  the  Spirit  himself  the 
(mly  rule.     And  it  is  as  glaring  as  the  political  absurdity  would 
be  of  constituting  a  rule  of  civil  conduct — not  out  of  the  law,  but 
out  of  the  persons  who  framed  the  law ;  and  of  declaring  to  the 
citizens  that  it  is  not  the  code  of  laws  by  which  they  must  regu- 
late their  conduct,  and  to  the  judges  that  they  must  not  judge  ac- 
cording to  the  law  ;  "  Those  ore  but  paper  and  ?«/v:."     The  rule  of 
j'-our  actions  is  the  souls  and  bodies  of  the  legislators  who  framed 

the  law ! 

3.  They  fly  in  the  face  of  the  clearest  facts  ;  they  lay  it  down 

*  Penn  vol.  ii.  p.  96,  &.c. 

I  Penn  vol.  ii  p.  106,  and  Apol.  Prop.  ii.  sect.  5,  compared  with  the 
Thesis  on  the  Script,  and  Prop.  v.  and  vi. 


On  Immediate  Revelations.  155 

as  a  fundamental  principle,  that  God  spake  immediately  to  every 
individual  of  the  Jewish  worshippers ;  and  that  they  all  had  im- 
mediate revelations  for  the  object  of  their  faith.*  They  destroy 
the  distinction  between  mediate  and  immediate.  "  God  spake  to 
all  immediately."  How  ?  Because  "•  God  spake  to  them  through 
the  High  Priest;"  because  his  Spirit  rested  on  the  seventy ;  be- 
cause two  men  prophesied  in  the  camp  ;  because  Moses  express- 
ed a  wish  that  all  the  people  might  also  prophesy!  Yes,  because 
the  Spirit  rested  on  the  prophets,  he  rested  on  the  people :  be- 
cause God  spake  immediately  to  some^  therefore  he  spake  imme- 
diately to  all !  And  Barclay,  who  loves  the  rare  and  the  sublime, 
insists,  that  because  God  is  omnipresent,  therefore  all  men  have 
his  revelations  !t  And,  thence,  by  a  form  of  logic  unheard  of  from 
the  days  of  the  Stagirite,  he  argues,  that  as  all  the  Jews  had  re- 
velations immediately  from  God,  all  men  now  may  have  them  :  and 
because  all  men  may  have  them,  all  men  now  do  have  them. 
There  is  no  saying  where  this  logic  may  stop.  We  shall  certain- 
ly hear  another  class  of  men,  who  have  got  their  brains  turned, 
not  by  theology^  but  by  politics,  beginning  to  harangue  us  thus  : — 
It  is  unquestionably  true  that  David  was  a  king ;  therefore  all 
his  people  were  kings  :  and  because  all  the  Jews  were  kings,  all 
may  be  kings  now:  and  because  they  may  be  kings,  therefore  all 
men  norv  are  kings.  Another  may,  in  the  same  manner,  make  it 
out,  that  like  David  we  are  all  psalmists  ! 

4.  The  principles  which  they  adopt  respecting  faith,  lead  to 
errors  of  the  most  serious  nature.  The  sole  object  of  the  faith  of 
the  saints  they  make  to  be  immediate  revelations.l  They  reject 
the  usual  division  of  faith  into  different  kinds  :  they  confound  the 
different  classes  of  faith  :  they  admit  only  one  kind.§    Moreover 

*  Apol.p.  46. 

t  Apol.  p.  46,  47  and  67. 

X  Apol.  Prop.  ii.  Assert.  5,  p. 

§  "  There  can  no  more  be  two  faiths  than  there  can  be  two  Gods." 
Bar.  Apol.  Prop.  ii.  sect.  19,  p.  51.  The  term  faith  besides  being  used  in 
a  figurative  sense  for  the  subject  of  belief,  as  in  Jude  ver.  3,  and  in  1  Tim. 
iii.  9,  is  used  in  four  different  senses  in  sacred  writ,  to  describe  an  exercise 
of  the  mind.  1.  There  is  a  temporary  faith  ;  Math.  xiii.  20,  21.  2.  His- 
torical faith  :  This  is  found  in  wicked  men  ;  Acts  viii.  13.  And  in  devils, 
James  ii.  19.  3.  The  faith  of  miracles,  1  Cor.  xiii.  2.  Sometimes  found 
in  wi  ked  characters,  Matth.  vii.  22,23.  4.  Saving  faith,  Eph.  ii.  8. 
Now  that  expression  of  the  Apostle,  (Eph.  iv.  5)  "  There  is  one  faith," 
on  which  B.  founds  his  opinion,  may  be  applied  with  perfect  truth  to  each 
of  these  classes.    The  men  who  have  the  first  kind,  may  say,  "  we  have 


156  On  Immediate  Revelations. 

they  laj^  down  this  principle,  that  e\eyy  one  who  has  had  faith, 
must  have  had  immediate  revelations  •  and  of  course  they  admit 
the  converse,  every  one  who  has  had  these  revelations,  has  had 
faith  :  and  as  their  system  admits  of  only  one  faith,  they  must  all 
have  had  the  same  true  or  common  faith. 

Now  let  us  see  whither  these  principles  will  carry  us.  First ; 
The  object  of  our  faith  now  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  prophets ; 
and  they  make  no  distinction  between  the  saving  faith  of  the  pro- 
phets considered  as  saints,  and  their  belief  as  prophets  in  the  di- 
vinity of  the  messages  with  which  they  were  changed.  The  one 
and  common  object  of  their  faith  they  make  to  be  immediate 
revelations.  Now,  on  this  principle  of  the  sect,  the  object  of  faith 
is  not  Our  Redeemer :  it  is  not  his  atoning  blood  :  it  is  some  di- 
rect impulse  simply.  No  one  knows  w  hat  may  be  the  substance 
of  it :  nor  is  that  of  any  consequence.  It  is  the  revealing  that  is 
the  object  of  faith.  It  is  not  on  the  subject  of  the  message  that 
faith  terminates ;  it  is  only  on  the  form  and  manner  in  which  the 
subject  is  brought  forward.  We  believe  not  in  the  matter,  but 
in  the  manner  in  which  it  is  told  !  When  the  shepherds  heard  the 
angels  announcing  the  birth  of  Christ,  it  was  not  his  birth  they 
believed.  "  Immediate  revelation,  such  as  that  of  the  prophets, 
was  the  only  object  of  their  faith."*  They  believed  in4.he  super- 
natural manner  only,  in  w  hich  that  birth  was  declared.  Do  they 
deny  this  ?  Then  those  to  whom  the  shepherds  told  their  reve- 
lations, not  having  immediate  revelations,  had  no  object  of  faith. 
They  could  not  believe. 

Second.  There  is  only  "one  faith."'  But  the  devil  also  "be- 
lieves and  trembles  "  He  has,  therefore,  the  same  faith  with  the 
best  of  men,  and  is  as  much  a  believer,  in  the  same  sense,  as  they 
are ;  and,  like  them,  he  has  at  every  act  of  faith  'afresh  impulse^ 
an  immediate  revelation  from  heaven! 

Third.  "Every  one  who  has  faith,  has  immediate  revelations 
like  the  prophets  and  apostles  :t"  but  all  the  true  members  of  the 

one  faith."  A 11  the  "  devils  who  believe  and  tremble  "  can  say  "  we  have 
one  faith."  So  may  the  persons  vv!\o  possessed  the  third  class  ;  and  (what 
is  the  true  meaning  of  the  text)  all  true  christians  have  '«  o?ie  Lord  and 
one  faith"  by  which  they  all,  ni  the  same  manner,  receive  by  an  appro- 
priating act,  their  common  Lord  and  Saviour. 

•  Bar.  Prop.  ii.  Assert.  5.  |  Apol.  p.  47. 


On  Immediate  Hevelations.  157 

Jewish  and  of  the  Christian  church  had  fahh.  Hence,  on  these 
principles,  every  member  had  specifically  the  same  inspirations 
as  those  who  were  endowed  with  the  highest  gifts.  All  were 
prophets  like  Isaiah ;  all  apostles  like  Paul !  Why  then  did  the 
people  wait  on  the  prophec3qngs  of  Isaiah?  why  did  the  king  of 
Israel  send  to  consult  a  prophet  ?  why  did  the  equally  inspired 
bear  with  the  written  epistles,  "  the  dead  letter''  of  Paul.  They 
had  what  he  had.  "  Propter  quod  unumquodque  est  tale,  illud 
ipsum  est  magis  tale."* 

Fourth.  "Every  one  who  has  these  revelations  has  faith,  and 
there  is  only  '  one  faith.'  "  Hence  Balaam,  who  unquestionably 
had  true  revelations,  was  as  much  a  believer  as  Moses !  and  those 
persons  "  who  had  prophesied  in  Christ's  name,  and  had  cast  out 
devils,  and  had  done  many  wonderful  w^orks,"t  w^ere  as  good  men 
as  those  in  heaven,  and  yet  were  rejected  by  Christ.  "  Depart 
from  me,  for  I  never  knew  you.'''' 

Fifth.  Some  of  their  chief  principles  are  supported  by  reason- 
ing in  a  circle.  Barclay's  proof  of  one  main  point,  and  one  on 
which  he  had  put  forth  all  his  strength,  is  a  fair  specimen  of  this.;}: 
He  is  going  to  prove  that  they  have  revelations  specifically  the 
same  with  those  of  the  prophets.  He  lays  down  this  premise — 
"  Our  faith  is  the  same  as  theirs."  This,  if  spoken  of  saving  faith, 
is  unquestionably  true ;  but  that  is  not  in  point.  He  is  not  on 
that  subject.  He  is  to  make  good  the  assertion,  that  "  the  object 
of  the  prophets'  faith  is  immediate  revelations,  and  that  these  are 
still  continued  to  men."  His  argument  is  this  :  Where  the  faith 
is  one,  the  object  of  the  faith  is  one ;  but  the  faith  is  one,  there- 
fore the  object  of  their  faith  and  of  our  faith  is  one. 

Now  the  essential  act  of  this  faith  of  which  he  speaks,  consists 
in  the  man's  receiving  w  ith  a  holy  assurance  immediate  revela- 
tions from  God  :  and  our  faith  being,  in  these  principles,  specifi- 
cally the  same,  must  of  course  consist  in  the  act  of  receiving  new 
revelations  from  God.  Hence,  Barclay's  argument  is  rounded 
off  into  this  circle.  In  as  much  as  we  do,  like  the  prophets,  re- 
ceive immediate  revelations,  we  do  have  imjnediatp  revelations  ! 

*  Bar.  Thes.  iii. 

f  Math.  vii.  22,23. 

%  Prop.  ii.  and  Assert,  v. 


158  On  Immediate  Revelations. 

Sixth.  The  writers  of  this  sect  assume  higher  ground  than  that 
•which  was  taken  by  the  apostles  of  our  Lord.  St.  Paul,  the  very 
chiefest  of  the  apostles,  submitted  his  inspired  epistles  to  the 
examination  of  those  who  had  the  Spirit,  and  calls  on  them  to 
^^acknowledge  that  the  things  which  lie  wrote  were  the  commandments 
of  the  Lord.''''*  But  these  modern  apostles,  not  worthy  to  "  stoop 
down  and  unloose  the  latchet  of  his  buskins,  do  give  us  no  pre- 
dictions, no  miracles  ;  and  they  will  not  permit  us  to  subject  their 
effusions  '  to  the  test  of  reason,  or  of  scripture,  as  a  superior 
rule.'"t 

And  what  is  more,  they  claim  for  the  individuals  of  their  sect 
more  than  was  ever  vouchsafed  to  the  members  of  the  primitive 
church  in  her  most  glorious  times.  Only  a  few  possessed  the 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  only  a  few  were  blessed  with  immediate 
revelations,  even  at  that  eventful  period  when  the  prophecy  of 
Joel  was  accomplished-!  But  with  them  none  are  excluded  from 
immediate  revelations.  With  them  every  believer  has  them ; 
with  them  "  all  are  apostles,  all  are  prophets."§ 

Last.  The  society  of  Friends,  setting  aside  with  cold  disdain, 
the  common  means  of  grace  and  the  special  influences  of  the  Spi- 
rit, and  placing  themselves  wholly  under  the  care  of  immediate 
objective  revelations,  presents  to  view  a  singular  spectacle,  an 
anomaly  in  the  ecclesiastical  world,  perfectly  novel  and  roman- 
tic !  An  anomaly  as  extraordinary  as  would  be  a  world  in  which 
the  human  mind  arrived  at  perfection  in  knowledge,  without  one 
of  the  ordinary  means,  and  by  a  single  act  of  Omnipotence.  An 
anomaly  as  extraordinary  as  a  government  of  Providence  would 
be,  out  of  which  all  secondary  causes  were  banished,  and  where 
every  event  was  brought  to  pass  by  the  immediate  acts  of  Omni- 
potence, embodying  its  energies  in  the  form  of  a  continuous  suc- 
cession of  miracles  ! 

This  outline  will  convey  an  idea  of  the  manner  in  which  Penn 

•  1  Cor.  xiv.  37.  See  the  translation  of  the  passage  by  M'Knight,  vol. 
iv.  p.  10.  and  vol.  ii.  p.  118.  119,  Bost.  edit. 

t  A  genuine  revelation  was  deemed  by  the  church  inferior  to  that  por- 
tion of  the  scriptures  already  given  ;  until  it  had  established  itself  by  un- 
equivocal evidence.  Then  it  was  on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality  with  the 
rest. 

X  Joel  ii.  28.     Actsii.  16. 

§  Apol.  Prop.  ii.  sect.  11. 


On  Immediate  Revelations.  15§ 

and  Barclay  have  laboured  on  the  chief  article  in  their  system, 
and  yet  nobody  wonders  that  such  authors  have  not  found  their 
oblivion.  The  writings  of  all  chief  sectaries  became  a  text  book 
and  a  kind  of  bible  to  their  disciples.  It  has  ever  been  so;  it  is 
nothing  new  and  nothing  strange.  The  Romanists  lock  up  the 
Bible  and  pour  on  the  ignorant  mob  a  flood  of  oral  traditions 
and  legends.  The  Brahmins  have  supported  the  Shaster  for  a 
thousand  years  :  and  the  gold  and  devotion  of  the  Mohammedans 
have  preserved  the  Koran  for  twelve  centuries  ! 

§  6.— But  the  importance  of  this  subject  will  not  permit  us  to 
rest  satisfied  with  negative  argument.  It  is  possible  to  demon- 
strate that  these  revelations  are  unnecessary,  and  in  fact,  have 
no  existence. 

First,  divine  truth  was  revealed  to  the  great  body  of  thechurck 
in  the  brightest  days  of  prophets  and  apostles  in  no  way  differ- 
ent from  that  in  which  it  is  revealed  to  us,  and  with  precisely  the 
same  evidence. 

In  the  days  of  the  most  plentiful  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
a  few  individuals  only  possessed  his  extraordinary  gifts,  and  the 
body  of  the  people  were  instructed  by  these.  It  is  a  matter  of 
historical  fact  that  all  were  not  prophets — not  apostles.  It  is 
equally  an  historical  fact  that  the  people  received  their  instruc- 
tions from  no  other  source  than  from  the  men  charged  with  di- 
vine messages.  Hence  it  is  evident  that  the  body  of  the  people 
did  not  receive  truth  immediately^  from  God. 

When  those  prophets  who  were  charged  with  a  commission, 
brought  forward  their  message  to  the  church,  it  was  by  words 
audibly  pronounced ;  or  it  was  by  words  committed  to  writing^ 
or  it  was  by  both.  And  when  the  church  received  their  mes- 
sages as  the  commands  of  the  living  God,  there  was  some  formal 
and  sufficient  reason  for  her  faith.  The  matter  revealed  could 
not  be  the  sole  cause,  inducing  her  belief.  No  created  being  is 
competent  to  sit  in  judgment  on  this,  and  pronounce  what  mate- 
rials ought  to  constitute  a  message  from  the  court  of  heaven.  He 
has  no  standard  within  his  reach ;  it  comes  not  within  the  range 
of  human  experience.  The  message  may,  and  does  certainly 
carry  intrinsic  proofs  of  its  divine  origin ;  yet  this  cannot  be  the. 
whoU  cause  or  reason  of  its  reception  by  the  church. 


160  On  Tmmediate  Revelations. 

Nor  could  this  reception  be  procured  by  the  form  or  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  were  presented  originally  to  the  mind  of  the 
prophet  himself.  There  are  two  arguments  to  establish  this.  1 . 
The  evidence  growing  out  of  all  circumstances  of  this  kind,  (al- 
ways supposing  them  not  to  have  been  made  to  them  in  public 
with  certain  tokens)  could  be  felt  only  by  the  minds  of  the  in- 
spired. And  personal  and  secret  experiences  are  no  proofs  to 
a  second  person.  2.  To  suppose  that  the  faith  of  a  prophet  in 
his  own  revelations  was  founded  merely  in  the  form  and  manner 
in  which  they  were  received,  is  to  suppose  that  the  adversary  of 
God  and  man  does  not  put  forth  his  powers  in  counterfeiting  the 
usual  forms  of  revelation,  and  it  is  to  suppose  that  a  prophet  could 
never  be  deceived  by  any  species  of  delusion.  The  prophet's 
faith  in  his  own  revelation  could  be  founded  only  on  a  certain  in- 
timation, divinely  impressed  on  his  mind,  that  these  communica- 
tions were  trulj-  from  God.  Hence  the  veracity  of  God  is  the 
only  ground  or  formal  object  of  the  prophet's  belief  in  his  own 
revelations,  and  not  the/orm  or  manner  in  which  they  were  pre- 
sented to  his  mind ;  and  that  which  could  not  be  the  formal  ob- 
ject of  their  faith,  cannot  be  the  formal  object  of  the  faith  of  their 
followers.*  Hence  the  ground  of  the  church's  faith  in  the  mes- 
sages from  the  court  of  heaven,  was  the  divine  authority  and  ve- 
racity, expressed  in  the  solemn  call  "  Thiis  saiih  the  Lordf^  and 
certified  by  that  evidence  external  and  internal,  with  which  divine 
ti'uth  is  presented  to  the  human  mind. 

Now  if  such  be  the  manner  in  which  truth  was  imparted  to  the 
great  body  of  the  people,  and  if  such  was  the  formal  reason  or 
cause  of  their  faith  in  it,  it  could  make  no  difference  whether  it 
was  laid  before  them  by  the  words,  or  by  the  writings  of  the  in- 
spired. If  by  their  writings,  it  could  be  of  no  consequence 
whethcr  the  writing  was  the  original  autograph,  or  an  authentic 
copy  of  it.  If  the  copy  be  authentic  it  matters  not  whether  it  be 
a  first  transcript,  or  the  thousandih. 

Hence  it  is  evident,  that  to  us  in  these  times,  divine  truth  is 
communicated  in  a  manner  entirely  the  same  as  that  in  which  it 

*  Barclay  himself  did  acknowledge  this  when  his  mind  was  freed  from 
its  momentary  bias  in  favour  of  his  system.  See  Apol.  p.  50,  top,  though 
it  is  admitted  to  the  outrage  of  consistency. 


On  Immediate  KevelatioTis.  16t 

was  conveyed  to  them  who  lived  in  the  ages  of  prophecy  and  of 
miracle.  And  we  possess  evidence  substantially  the  same;  we 
have  all  that  testimony  and  evidence  which  led  the  fathers  to 
build  their  faith  on  the  divine  veracity.  If  we  want  their  mira- 
cles, we  have  at  least  the  protracted  miracles  gradually  devfiop^ 
ing  before  our  eyes  in  the  evolutions  of  Providence  fulfiilinr;  the 
prophecies.  And  hence  were  the  scriptures  obliterated ;  and 
did  the  age  of  prophecy  and  of  miracle  dawn  once  more  on  us; 
did  prophets  and  apostles  heyin  anew  to  open  to  us  the  councils 
of  heaven,  and  fill  up  the  canon  of  scripture ;  we  and  the  Friends 
should  not  enjoy  a  single  benefit  of  a  higher  nature  than  we  do 
now  possess.  We  should  receive  divine  truths  by  revelations, 
not  immediately  from  God,  but  through  the  inspired  few,  who 
would  demonstrate  their  authority  by  miracles.  And  the  vera- 
city and  authority  of  Almighty  God  would  be,  as  it  really  now  is, 
the  formal  ground  of  our  faith  and  obedience.  Hence  the  im^ 
mediate  revelations  of  the  Friends  are  entirely  unnecessary. 

Second.  They  form  no  part  of  the  elemental  principles  of  the 
christian  character,  and  they  arc,  therefore,  not  necessary  to 
salvation.  That  the  Holy  Ghost  operates  immediately  on  the 
human  mind  by  the  secret  influences  which  he  puts  forth,  and 
that  these  influences  are  essential  to  salvation,  are  doctrines 
which  we  have  always  advocated.  But  that  the  revelations  of 
the  Friends  are  essential  to  salvation,  is  a  doctrine  utterly  inad- 
missible. 

Of  the  elemental  principles  constituting  the  good  man's  charac- 
ter, they  never,  at  any  time,  formed  a  part ;  they  are  distinct 
from  faith,  which  consists  in  "  receiving  and  resting  on  Jesus 
Christ  for  eternal  safety,  as  he  is  offered  in  the  gospel."  They 
are  distinct  from  love,  from  hope,  from  repentance,  from  the 
practice  of  holiness.  The  men  whom  the  Holy  Ghost  selected 
and  made  prophets  and  apostles  were  employed  a?  instruments 
merely  to  announce  his  messages  to  men.  This  official  charac- 
ter had  no  necessary  dependance  on  their  moral  and  religious 
character.  They  might  be  good  men  ;  they  certainly  were,  with 
a  few  exceptions,  the  best  of  men ;  they  might  have  been  bad 
men.  As  it  regards  merely  the  delivering  of  a  message,  a  profli- 
gate servant  may,  and  often  really  does  deliver  his  lord's  in- 

04 


162  On  Immediate  Revelations. 

structions  as  accurately  as  a  good  servant  will.  A  conduit  of 
the  coarsest  materials  will  convey  the  pure  and  limpid  stream  as 
fully  as  if  constructed  of  golden  pipes. 

As  it  respects  that  part  of  the  prophetical  office  which  consist- 
ed in  uttering  the  predictions,  I  presume  the  point  will  not  be 
contested.  It  must  be  very  evident  that  that  act  of  infinite  sov- 
ereignty which  draws  aside  the  curtain  that  conceals  futurity, 
and  which  places  before  a  man's  view  a  succession  of  remote 
events,  is  essentially  different  from  that  act  whereby  He  '■''  creates 
us  anew  in  Christ  Jesus.^^  By  the  former,  the  man  was  put  in  pos- 
session of  something  not  for  personal  use,  but  for  the  public  bene- 
fit of  the  church  :  by  the  latter  he  is  made  the  subject  of  a  work 
terminating  on  his  own  soul :  by  the  former,  certain  powers  of 
the  mind,  especially  the  memory,  is  made  the  receptacle  of  know- 
ledge, and  hy  it  as  a  channel,  the  fertilizing  streams  are  poured 
over  the  church  :  in  the  latter  the  Holy  Ghost  puts  forth  his  plas- 
tic energies  over  the  whole  mind,  and  produces  "  the  neiv  creature.'''' 

And  as  it  respects  the  uttering  of  revealed  doctrines,  the  point 
is  no  less  clear,  for  three  reasons.  1.  Even  the  pious  prophets 
did  not,  merely  by  virtue  of  their  prophetical  office,  always  un- 
derstand the  meaning  of  the  doctrines  which  they  revealed  to  the 
church.  On  the  contrary,  after  they  had  delivered  them  to  the 
people,  they  searched  diligently  into  their  meaning,  and  under 
the  guidance  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  they  arrived,  as  we  do,  at  the 
same  knowledge  of  the  truth. 

The  following  is  our  authority  for  this  assertion.  ''  Of  which 
salvation  the  prophets  have  enquired  and  searched  diligently^  who  pro- 
phesied of  the  grace  that  should  come  unto  you  ;  searching  what,  and 
what  manner  of  time,  the  Spirit  of  Christ  who  was  in  them,  did  signify; 
when  it  testified  before-hand  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  the  glory  that 
should  follow,  unto  whom  it  teas  revealed  that &c."* 

It  is  here  distinctly  stated  that  the  prophets  did  receive  the 
doctrines  of  truth  by  inspiration ;  that  they  were  fully  qualified 
by  this  means,  to  deliver  them  to  the  church  :  but  that,  neverthe- 
less, they  did  not  fully  comprehend  their  meaning;  that  in  order 
to  arrive  at  this  "  they  searched  diligently''''  into  what  "  the  Spirit 

•  1.  Pet.  i,  11, 12, 


On  Immediate  'Revelations.  163 

Wio  was  in  them  did  signify.''''  In  other  words,  they  searched  into 
the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  already  revealed^  and  into  "  themanner 
of  time''''  in  which  the  event  of  Christ's  sufferings  should  be  ac- 
complished. And  upon  this  diligent  investigation  of  "  ihtir  omi 
doctrines^^''  they  received  another  "  revelation^''^  which  we  call  the 
special  guidance  and  instruction  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  which 
they  obtained,  as  every  christian  does  obtain,  a  clear  and  believ- 
ing view  of  the  truth. 

2.  In  addition  to  this  argument,  there  are  historical  facts  of 
great  weight.  There  have  been  true  prophets,  (because  they  had 
divine  revelations  made  to  them)  who  yet  were  utterly  destitute 
of  the  grace  of  God.  Balaam  was  an  impious  man,  and  he  was 
unquestionably  a  true  prophet.  The  scriptures  do  pronounce 
him  a  prophet.  He  predicted  remote  events  which  were  accu- 
rately accomplished.*  He  uttered  divine  truth  in  its  usual  style 
of  sublimity.  He  prophesied  of  the  "  star  that  should  arise  out  of 
Jacob,  and  the  sceptre  out  of  Israel^  who  should  have  dominion" 
This,  as  is  evident  from  the  light  thrown  on  it  by  parallel  passa- 
ges, cannot  be  referred  to  any  other  than  "  the  morning  star''"'  Je- 
sus Christ,  who  has  dominion  over  all  things.! 

3.  Our  Lord  has  set  this  matter  to  rest.  He  has  declared  that 
m  the  day  of  final  retribution,  there  will  be  on  his  left  hand  men 
who  not  only  prophesied,  but  who  added  the  evidence  of  miracles 
to  their  words.  "  Many  shall  say  to  me  in  that  day^  Lord,  Lordf 
have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy  name ;  and  in  thy  name  cast  out  devils ; 
and  in  thy  name  done  many  wonderful  works.  And  then  will  I  pro- 
fess unto  them,  I  never  knew  you.''''     (He  could  not  have  said  this, 

had  they  ever,  at  any  time,  been  in  the  possession  of  grace.) 
"  Depart  from  me  ye  that  work  iniquity. ''''\  Hence,  if  in  the  ele- 
ments of  his  character,  the  good  man  possessed  nothing  more 
than  what  may  be  found  in  the  "  mere  prophet,''''  then  he  has  not 
one  virtue  or  grace  more  to  discriminate  him  from  the  ungodly, 
than  what  Balaam  and  such  as  Balaam  did  possess.  "  Though  I 
have  the  gift  of  prophecy,''''  says  St.  Paul,  "  and  understand  all  mys- 
teries and  all  knowledge,  and  though  I  have  all  faith,  so  lliat  I  could 

*  Bishop  Newton  on  the  Proph.  vol.  i.  Dissert,  v. 
•}■  Scott's  Comment,  on  Numb.  xxiv.  17.    And  particularly  Henry  on 
that  place. 

t  Math.  vii.  22. 


164  On  Immediate  Revelations, 

remove  mountains^  and  have  not  charity,"  (that  is  true  love  to  God 
and  man)  "  /  am  nothing.''''* 

Ttiird.  Their  revelations  are  brought  fonvard  without  evi- 
dence, and  they  are  therefore  uncertain  and  unprofitable.  In 
the  experience  of  the  true  prophet,  there  was  attached  to  every 
one  of  his  revelations  a  certain  irresistible  evidence  that  it  is  from 
God.  By  this  form  of  evidence,  whatever  it  was,  they  could  as 
certainly,  and  as  easily,  at  least,  distinguish  the  voice  of  God  from 
that  of  a  deceiver,  as  we  can  the  voice  of  a  friend  from  that  of  a 
stranger.  But  this  species  of  evidence  could  not  be  useful  to  any 
but  the  prophet  himself.  It  could  not  be  laid  down  as  a  basis  of 
that  faith  which  he  demanded  for  his  messages  from  the  court  of 
heaven.  It  is  invisible  to  us  ;  it  is  not  felt  by  us  ;  it  can  produce 
no  faith  in  us  ;  and  he  who  can  suppose  that  it  can,  he  who  comes 
forward  with  lofty  claims,  and  divine  messages,  and  new  systems, 
and  appeals  to  no  higher  evidence  than  to  certain  inward  feel- 
ings, is  an  impostor  and  a  knave:  he  insults  our  understandings  ; 
he  deems  us  capable  of  being  duped  by  the  weakest  artifices. 

Now,  admitting  that  the  Friends  have  all  that  they  claim ;  ad- 
mitting that  their  revelations  are  to  them  "  clear  and  evident  in 
themselves,"  these  revelations  are  radically  different  from  the 
special  work  of  the  Divine  Spirit  in  the  human  mind  ;  and  hence 
they  are  not  necessary  to  their  salvation,  and  they  cannot  be 
made  useful  to  others  without  evidence ;  and  that  only  evidence 
w-hich  can  carry  conviction  into  the  heart,  I  mean  prediction 
and  miracle,  the  substantial  evidence  to  which  all  good  men  look, 
and  to  which  evcrj  truly  inspired  man  always  successfully  re- 
sorted, is  invariably  declined  by  every  one  of  the  inspired  of  the 
society,  and  for  the  best  reasons  in  the  world.  They  have  never 
had  the  possession  of  the  one  nor  of  the  other.  Heaven,  deaf  to 
the  voice  of  their  prophets  and  apostles,  has  not  lent  them  one 
prophecy,  no,  nor  one  solitary  miracle  to  this  day  !  Hence,  their 
revelations  are,  in  the  eyes  of  the  church,  without  proof,  unpro- 
fitable and  useless. 

Fourth,  Holy  revelations  have  fully  accomplished  their  end, 

*   1  Cor.  xiii.  2. — See  Dr.  Owens  examination  of  this  point  in  his  book 
on  the  Spirit  vol.  1.  book.  ii.  Ch  1.  Sect.  17,  18.  And  in  his  Discourse  on' 
the  Holy  Spirit  and  his  gifts.  Ch.  2. 


On  Jmmeiliate  Revelations.  165 

and  are  withdrawn  forever.  The  end  proposed  to  be  accom- 
plished by  them,  was  the  completion  of  the  sacred  canon  of 
scripture.  This  has  been  done.  Each  book,  delivered  by  the 
inspirations  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  supported  by  innate  and  his- 
torical evidence  5  and  though  bound  up  in  one  volume,  each  book 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  is  not  only  full  and  complete  in 
the  weight  of  its  own  evidence,  but,  in  hke  manner  as  the  classic 
authors  are  produced  to  establish  the  authenticity  of  each  other, 
these  books  of  the  sacred  scriptures  contain  irresistible  evidence 
of  the  authenticity  and  divinity  of  each  othei\  All  the  books 
that  were  delivered  to  the  church  with  these  proofs  of  divine 
origin,  are  placed  in  the  canon.  The  canon  is  complete  and  per- 
fect.* It  was  delivered  to  the  church  "  to  make  men  wise  unto 
salvation."  The  Spirit  of  God  has  denounced  a  curse  on  those 
who  shall  "  add  to  it,  or  who  shall  take  away  from  it  ;"t  and  every 
immediate  revelation  does  either  add  to  revealed  truth,  or  is  ut- 
terly unnecessary. 

Fifth.  The  entire  withdrawing  of  the  miraculous  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  aftbrds  us  ample  proof  that  immediate  revelations 
are  closed.  Divine  inspiration  was  the  loftiest  and  certainly  the 
most  important  of  all  the  extraordinary  gifts  of  the  Spirit.  It  was 
the  channel  by  which  God  conveyed  his  will  to  man ;  and,  in- 
deed, all  the  other  miraculous  endowments  were  designed  simply 
to  confirm  the  truth  of  this  one.  They  were  all  directed  to  this 
point,  to  establish  to  the  conviction  of  men,  that  those  revelations 
which  were  brought  forward  were  from  God.  This  was  the  end 
of  the  miracles  of  our  Lord,  the  great  prophet  of  the  church. 
"  The  works  that  I  do  in  my  Father's  name,  they  bear  witness 
of  me.'"|  And  it  was  the  end  of  the  miracles  wrought  by  those 
who  were  charged  with  his  commissions.§ 

But  every  miraculous  gift  is  withdrawn.  We  have  the  testi- 
mony of  our  senses  to  confirm  this  ;  and  the  Almighty  would  not 

•  It  is  foreign  from  my  purpose  to  enter  into  a  discussion  on  the  sacred 
canon.  Consult  on  this  subject  Prideaux  Connect,  vol.  ii.  p.  102,  411,  &c. 
Jones' Canon  Author,  of  the  New  Test.  Blair's  Canon  of  Scnpt.  Dr. 
Owen's  Comment,  on  the  Heb.  In  rod.  Dick  on  Inspir.  See  also  Chal- 
mer  on  the  Histor.  Evid.  of  the  Bible. 

f  Prov.  XXX.  6.     Revel,  xxii.  18,  &c. 

X  John  X,  25. 

S  Mark  xvi.  20. 


466  On  Immediate  Ilevelations. 

have  withdrawn  the  secondary  gifts,  if  the  primary,  which  re- 
quired their  support,  still  remained.  We  have,  therefore,  the 
evidence  of  our  senses,  that  objective  revelations  are  withdrawn 
from  the  church. 

Lastly.  The  doctrine  of  the  Friends  has  no  foundation  in 
any  of  those  passages  of  holy  scripture  which  they  adduce  in 
proof  of  it.*  It  might  be  enough  simply  to  say,  that  each  of  these 
texts  which  they  quote,  refers  either  to  the  special  influences  of 
the  Spirit,  or  to  his  miraculous  gifts.  If  to  the  former,  then  we 
have  gained  our  point,  and  the  dispute  is  at  an  end.  If  to  the  lat- 
ter, the  Friends  gain  nothing  fro;n  this,  unless  they  can  prove 
that  all  men  were  invested  with  these  miraculous  powers ;  that 
"  all  were  prophets — "  that  all  were  apostles ;"  that  none  were 
taught  mediately  by  inspired  teachers.  But  in  every  age  of  in- 
spiration, these  gifts  were  vouchsafed  only  to  a  few ;  and  the 
fact  that  these  gifts  were  conferred  then  on  a  few  only,  ought 
surely  not  to  be  quoted  in  proof  that  all  men  now  have  them.  No- 
thing but  miraculous  powers  can  bear  the  friends  out  in  their  ex- 
traordinary claims. 

I  shall  close  with  a  review  of  their  exposition  of  three  passages 
of  sacred  writ,  which  have  been  called,  with  some  degree  of  as- 
surance, "  The  Quaker  texts.''^  And  this,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  be 
Q  sufficient  specimen  of  the  manner  in  which  other  texts  are  to 
be  redeemed  from  similar  abuses. 

1.  "  This  is  my  covenant  with  them,  saith  the  Lord  ;  my  Spirit 
that  is  on  thee,  and  my  words  which  I  have  put  into  thy  mouth, 
shall  not  depart  out  of  thy  mouth,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy 
seed,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed's  seed,  saith  the  Lord  from 
henceforth  and  forever."! 

It  is  evident!  that  these  are  the  words  of  the  Father  to  the  Son 
on  behalf  of  his  spiritual  seed.  They  contain  a  double  promise. 
First :  That  the  Spirit  who  rested  on  "  the  Redeemer,"  shall 
never  leave  his  "  seed."  Second  :  That  the  words  put  into  "  the 
Redeemer's  mouth  shall  never  depart  from  the  mouth  of  his 
seed,"  nor  of  "  his  seed's  seed."     There  is  no  intimation  that  the 

*  Such  as  Jerem.  xxxi.  31.  Joel  ii.  28,  29.  Heb.  viii.  10.  1  John  ii.  27. 
Bar.  Apol.  Prop.  ii.  sect.  11,  12. 
t  Jer.  Ux.  21 
%  From  verse  20. 


On  Immediate  Kevelations.  167 

Spirit  will,  by  an  immediate  interposition,  put  words  into  their 
mouths.  "  The  words  which  I  have  put  into  thy  (Christ's)  mouth, 
shall  not  depart  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed."  It  is  a  truth  not 
to  be  contested  in  this  day  of  light  and  triumphant  demonstra-- 
tion,  that  we  possess  an  authentic  copy  of  his  words,  written  by 
men  from  his  lips.  And  no  "  immediate  revelation"  can  do  more 
than  what  this  authentic  copy  actually  does,  in  keeping  them  "  in 
our  lips." 

The  gross  abuse  of  this  passage  by  Penn  and  Barclay  merits 
the  severest  reprehension.  To  give  it  a  turn  to  their  own  pur-? 
pose  the  one  quotes  it  thus :  "  /  will  pour  out  my  Spirit  on  thee,  and 
on  thy  seed  and  thy  seed's  seed  to  all  generations.^''  And  the  other 
models  it  into  this  form  to  be  the  basis  of  his  syllogism :  "  My 
word,  I  even  /,  saith  the  Lord,  have  put  into  your  mouth.''''*  And 
from  th'is  forgery  he  draws  the  conclusion  that  as  "  the  Spirit  puts 
words  into  their  lips,"  they  were  certainly  inspired.  Had  this 
bold  deed  of  altering  a  clause  in  the  Testament  of  God  Almighty, 
been  practised  on  a  human  instrument,  the  perpetrators  would 
have  been  declared  guilty  of  felony,  by  the  laws  of  every  civil" 
ized  state. 

2.  "  Ye  have  an  unction  from  the  Holy  One,  and  ye  know  all 
things ;"  "  and  ye  need  not  that  any  man  teach  you."t  If  ever 
there  were  a  period  in  which  these  happy  times  and  conditions 
were  fully  enjoyed  by  individuals  and  by  the  church,  it  was 
during  the  extraordinary  effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  apos- 
tle's days.  Did  we  take  the  sense  imposed  on  these  sacred  pas- 
sages as  the  sense  of  the  apostles,  then  every  one  to  whom  thej 
addressed  themselves,  was  possessed  of  immediate  revelations. 
All  were  prophets,  all  were  apostles,  and  none  were  taught  by 
the  lips  of  inspired  men.  If  christians  had  "the  anointing'*  in 
this  sense,  the  conduct  of  the  aposdes  was  utterly  inexplicable. 
Why  did  they  teach  ?  all  had  the  teacher  within.  Why  did  they 
preach?  all  had  the  light  within.  Why  write  epistles?  why 
did  John  write  these  words  to  tell  them  about  "  the  anointine?'* 

o 

They  all  had  the  word  in  perfection  within. 

I  cannot  yield  to  the  learned  critic,J  and  refer  this  "  anointing" 

•  Penn  vol.  ii.  p.  494  note.  Barcl.  Prop.  ii.  sect.  11,  p.  63. 
t  1  John  ii.  20  and  27,  add  to  this  Joel  ii.  28,  29.  Jer.  xxxi.  31. 
+  Di*.  M' Knight's  new  Trans,  of  the  Epist.  in  loco, 


168  On  Immediate  Revelations, 

and  "  this  knowing  all  things  to  the  extraordinary  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  this  discerning  of  Spirits."  Let  us  place  before 
our  minds  the  context.  We  shall  perceive  that  the  aposde  is 
referring  to  the  doctrines  which  he  had  been  inculcating  on  the 
attention  of  the  church,  and  is  pointing  to  the  "  anti-christs"  which 
"  had  gone  out  from  them." — "  Ye  have  the  anointing — ye  need 
not  that  any  man  teach  you."  You  are  no  strangers  to  our  doc- 
trines ;  they  are  in  the  lips  of  all  the  faithful ;  you  need  none  of 
the  teachings  of  these  men — these  false  teachers — these  pretend-, 
ers  to  inspirations.  You  have  the  instructions  of  the  apostles,  by 
word  and  epistle  ;  you  have  the  anointing  of  the  Spirit :  and  those 
perceptions  of  truth  which  you  have  thence  acquired,  set  you 
above  the  necessity,  and  above  the  seducing  influences  of  the 
teachings  of  these  false  prophets.  This  simple  exposition  makes 
the  practice  and  the  doctrine  of  the  apostle  consistent  and  har- 
monious. 

But  if  the  Friends  will  insist  on  the  literal  meaning,  then  we 
will  act  on  the  offensive  ;  we  will  turn  on  them  and  say :  Be  it  so, 
that  these  christians  to  whom  John  wrote  had  inspirations  in  the 
fullest  measure — be  it  so,  that  they,  all  men,  woo:; en  and  children 
were  prophets  and  apostles : — what  will  that  prove  in  your  fa- 
vour? Does  that  prove  that  modems — that  t/ou  have  these  inspi- 
rations? Prove  you  that  you  are  divinely  led  !  Bring  forth  your 
miracles  !  Pronounce  your  prophecies. — No !  you  have  none ! 
Then  you  are  self-convicted 

Last,  and  that  which  is  the  burden  of  every  Quakers  sermon. 
"  The  manifestation  of  the  Spirit  is  given  to  every  man  to  profit  withaV 

Eiec(«-T(v  A  iii'oftti  i  <;)av6p&>fl-/5  rou  ThiVf/turet  vftt  tw  e-fiM^rpt*.    '^     Lnder 

the  term  "  <ji«v{f«(r/c"  '''' manifestation^''''  is  comprised  the  different 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 1  The  term  literally  taken  siirnifies  the 
active  manifestation  hy  proof.  It  implies  the  power  and  faculty  of 
declaring  b^'-  doctrine,  and  of  demonstrating  by  deeds,  that  the, 
person  has  the  Holy  Ghost.|     It  is  a  gift  entrusted  to  men  "{rpoe 

*  1  Cor.  xii.  7 .  We  are  pained  at  hearing  this  text  almost  iinivursally 
quoted  by  the  Quaker  preachers  tans:  "a  ?«ctt.vM/-e  cf  the  Spi' it.  6cc.  ' 
And  not  unfrequently  is  it  wiitten  in  this  manner,  "  a  measure  of  the  Spirit 
is  given."  Wliich  completely  alters  the  meaning. 

f  See  Dr.  Owen  on  the  Spir.  vol.  ii.  ch.  1  sect.  11. 

±  See  Schiensneri  Lexicon  in  voce. 


On  Immediate  "Revelations.  169 

T.»  ru/x<fifov ;"  "  for  the  good  or  benefit,"*  that  is  of  the  church.t 
This  gift  was  bestowed  not  on  all,  but  on  "  each"  "  t*«!rT«."  For 
it  is  to  be  referred  to  the  extraordinary  gifts  of  the  Spirit  only.+ 
And  these  gifts,  it  is  evident,  were  not  conferred  on  "  all"  with- 
out discrimination. 

Hence  the  meaning  of  the  passage  is  this :  The  extraordinary 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  were  given  to  each  man  chosen  to  extraordinor 
ry  services,  to  demonstrate  that  their  messages  were  from  God,  and, 
therefore,  were  for  the  common  good. 

Now,  what  advantage  does  the  Quaker  cause  gain  from  this  ? 
In  what  manner  can  they  shape  an  argument  out  of  it?  These 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  were  given  to  select  men  in  those  ages  to 
which  we  refer.  Does  this  offer  any  proof  that  inspirations  are 
given  to  all  men  now  indiscriminately  ?  The  individuals  who  ac- 
tually possessed  these  gifts,  demonstrated  the  divinity  of  their 
commission  by  miraculous  powers.  Will  that  prove  that  the 
equally  high  claims  of  the  Quakers  need  not  these  domonstra- 
tions  ?  On  what  principles  are  we  called  upon  to  yield  our  faith 
to  these  pretenders,  who  bring  no  evidence,  when  the  church  of 
old  would  yield  to  no  claims,  not  even  to  those  of  an  apostle,  with- 
out miracles?  We  can  give  no  credit  to  them,  for  they  lay  down 
no  foundation  for  faith  to  rest  upon.  They  claim  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  but  they  have  no  "  (pafipwe-zc,"  no  manifestation  of  his  pre- 
sence, by  his  gifts.  No  man  can  be  a  believer  in  their  revelations 
without  renouncing  his  reason  :  and  there  is  not  a  man  of  reflec- 
tion in  the  society  who  would  not  laugh  in  his  sleeve  at  the  sim- 
pleton who  would  believe  without  evidence,  and  with  the  deisti- 
eal  Pope  who  chuckled  over  the  easy  belief  of  his  catholic 
subjects,  would  exclaim  '•^  A  fne  fabrication  this — which  has  proved 
so  lucrative  to  us .'" 

•  See  Schleus.  and  Stockius  in  voc.  fvf/.<ptfM. 

-}•  As  is  evident  from  1  Cor.  xiv.  2,  5. 

±  As  the  next  verse  (8)  fully  declares,  and  as  everij  Quaker  admits. 


25 


CHAPTER  n. 

ON  THE  CHARACTER  OF  THEIR  SILENT  WORSHIP. 


"  The  funde  of  the  soiile  is  the  secretcst  part  of  the  soul.  In  this  funde 
God  begets  his  soiine.  Into  this  man  must  introvert,  and  drawe  himself 
in,  and  sinrk  into  this  fundc,  and  denude  himself  of  all  thoughts,  -words 
and  deeds.  There  God  p^ureth  himself  into  our  spirits.  We  dissolve  in 
God  and  become  pure,  Sec. 

Tauler  a  Dominican  of  A.  D.  1346. 

"  Deep  from  the  vault  the  Loxian  murmurs  flow  ; 
"  And  Pythias'  awful  voices  peal  below." 


§  1 .  That  blunt  polemic,  Brown  of  Wamphry.  after  having  Ijc- 
stowed  much  attention  on  the  form  and  theory  of  the  silent  wor- 
ship of  the  Friends,  exclaimed,  that  he  had  discovered  in  it 
'"''plain  vestiges  of  devilrie  P''* 

If  the  spirit  of  the  age  has  polished  the  genius  of  criticism,  it 
has  also  smoothed  down  the  rugged  features  of  sectarianism.  But 
whatever  polish  may  be  conveyed  to  the  surface  of  these  prin- 
ciples, their  substantive  form  is  the  same. 

We  discover  in  the  silent  worship  of  the  society  singular  phe- 
nomena, produced  evidently  by  a  rigid  adherence  to  their  lead- 
ing tenet.  Its  moral  and  physical  aspect  is  altogether  extraor- 
dinaiy,  and  cannot  fail  to  attract  the  notice  of  the  philosopher 
who  investigates  the  history  of  the  human  mind. 

The  society  has  excluded  not  only  all  that  is  venerable  by  an- 
tiquity, but  what  is  sacred  by  the  authority  of  our  Lord.  They 
have  banished  the  holy  scriptures  from  their  assemblies.  They 
are  not  permitted  to  be  read  there.  They  have  excluded  bap- 
tism and  the  Lord's  supper ;  they  have  rejected  stated  prayers, 
and  the  singing  of  psalms.  They  have  removed  the  distinction 
between  the  regular  ministry  and  the  flock.  Their  only  minis- 
try is  composed  of  thosr  straggling  individuals  whom  a  fortuitous 
impulse  brings  upon  their  floor.  Each  of  them  enters  the  asseni- 

♦  Pref.  of  his  book 


On  thfiir  Silent  Worship.  171 

blj  with  a  weight  of  supernatural  gifts  and  divine  inspirations. 
Their  elders  take  their  stations  in  a  conspicuous  place,  and  pos- 
sessing the  hereditary  gift  "  of  discerning  spirits,"*  they  sit  as 
judges  of  what  may  be  advanced.  All  remain  covered  according 
to  the  edicts  given  forth  by  their  prophets.!     But  as  soon  as  the 
"  inspired  is  moved"  to  pray,  the  whole  assembly,  at  one  instant, 
discerning  the  impulse  of  the  spirit  in  the  prophet^  harmoniously  lay 
aside  the  hat,  and  all  stand  up.     It  is  resumed  when  the  impulse 
to  pray  is  discontinued.]:  They  sit  with  looks  lowering  downward 
on  the  ground,  and  "  wait  on  the  Lord."     This  "  Lord  is  within 
them ;"  he  is  "  in  the  fund  of  the  soul."     This,  in  the  consecra- 
ted style  of  the  Friends,  is  "  that  deep  in  which  unity  is  known."§ 
Into  this  "fund"  or  abyss  they  descend;  and,  like  so  many 
jEneases  descending  into  Tartarus,  each  has  his  guardian  Sybil. 
Within  this  deep  "  they  meet  the  Lord."     This  descent  is  called 
the  act  of  "  intx'oversion."     In  it  each  puts  forth  all  his  energy  in 
directing  thither  the  whole  current  of  his  thoughts,  in  chaining 
down  carnal  wisdom,  in  silencing  the  whispers  of  reason,  of  pas- 
sion, and  appetite.     During  this  deathhke  slumber,  this  tempo- 
rary suspension  of  judgment  and  reason,  they  turn  into  the  pre- 
sence of  that  "  Lord  who  reigns  in  the  fund  of  the  soul."     It 
bestirs  itself,  and  on  "  the  rising  of  this  seed  of  the  divine  life," 
this  inward  lord,  in  awful,  and  solemn,  and  secret  whisperings, 
dictates  their  duties,  chides  their  offences,  engages  to  amendment. 
It  spends  not  all  its  strength  in  whispers:  it  puts  forth  active  pow- 
ers :  it  lays  hold  on  the  "  evil  seed  within,"  and  with  terrible 
energy  chains  it  down  or  hurls  it  from  its  lurking  places. ||  Some- 
times under  the  name  of  "  virtuous  life,"  it  proceeds  from  the 

*  See  Fox's  Jour.  i.  99.  220. 

t  See  vol.  i.  sect.  25,  and  Fox's  Jour.  i.  p.  113,  and  Penn  vol.  ii.  p.  207. 

X  The  female  ministers,  acting  in  marvellous  consistency  with  the 
usurped  power  of  their  priesthood,  uncover  the  head  when  they  preach. 
Paul  laid  his  injunction  on  females  not  to  speak,  in  the  church,  1  Cor.  xiv. 
34,  35.  His  argument  is,  that  woman  is  subject  to  man  as  her  head.  1 
Cor.  xi.  3.  But  to  teach  is  to  usurp  authority.  1  Tim.  ii.  12,  &c.  They 
must,  therefore,  not  only  remain  silent,  bit  covered,  in  token  of  this  sub- 
jection. 1  Cor.  xi.  7,  10,  8cc.  As,  therefore,  they  have  refused  the  re- 
straint of  the  apostle  and  of  Christ,  and  have  thrown  off  subjection  to  man 
as  their  head,  they  do  very  consistently  throw  off  their  covering,  the  badge 
and  token  of  said  subjection,  when  they  are  about  to  prophesy  ! 

<^  See  S.  Crisp's  Serm.  p.  127,  Phil.  ed. 

I"!  B.ir.  Prop,  xl,  passim,  especially  sect.  7  and  8, 


172  On  their  Silent  Worship, 

ministrj'',  and  produces  these  effects ;  and  what  is  more  remark- 
able, "  the  very  countenances  as  well  as  the  words  of  the  illite- 
rate ministry,"  as  Barclay  assures  us,  "  produced  this  exploit  in 
him  as  well  as  in  others."* 

There  is  another  phenomenon  of  a  still  more  singular  nature. 
On  some  occasions  when  the  whole  assembly  are,  by  a  singular 
coincidence  of  sentiment  and  feeling, "  gathered  into  the  life,"  and 
"  have  their  minds  centred  in  a  degree  of  solemn  quiet,"!  this 
"  lord  rends  through  the  meeting. "f  A  general  movement  is  pro- 
duced ;  they  experience  secret  refreshings,  which  none  can  feel 
but  those  who  are  "  gathered  into  the  seed ;"  and  this  is  "  without 
words  ministered  from  vessel  to  vessel. "§  And  where  a  few 
stragglers  may  be  "  out  of  the  life,"  by  yielding  to  reason  or  to 
fancy,  the  rest,  firm  as  the  needle  to  the  pole,  feel  a  nameless 
sympathy,  which  in  the  appropriate  nomenclature  of  their  divines, 
is  called  "  f/mtt-rngs"  toward  their  brethren.  They  will  travail 
as  in  birth  for  them.  By  the  combined  effort  of  the  stronger 
brother  and  of  the  weaker  brother  the  carnal  Spirit  is,  by  a  pow- 
erful and  secret  process,  decomposed,  or  precipitated,  or  held  in 
solution.  There  is  yet  another  phenomenon — when  a  mocker  has 
chanced  to  come  in  during  this  awful  silence,  when  so  much  was 
going  on  in  the  invisible  world  "  within;''''  where  "  the  life  has 
been  raised  in  a  high  measure,"  and  the  whole  society  has  been 
charged  with  this  powerful  spirit, "  the  greatest  terror  has  been 
struck  into  his  soul."||  Its  shivering  transports  have  glanced 
along  his  nerves  like  the  electric  shot  from  a  Leyden,  or  a  gal- 
vanic battery  :  or  if  the  day  of  his  "  visitation  should  not  have 
expired ;"  that  means  if  the  spectator  be  not  too  hardened  to  be- 
come a  convert  to  these  opinions,  "  it  will  reach  the  measure  of 
grace  within  him  and  raise  it  up."  Thus  the  wandering  soul  is 
often  smitten  by  a  brother  "  secretly  without  words ;"  and  thus 
"one  Friend  is  a  midwife,  through  the  secret  travails  of  his  soul, 
to  bring  forth  the  life  in  another,  without  words."ir 

*  Apol.  Prop.  X.  sect.  23,  p.  381. 

t  Com.  of  the  annual  meeting  of  Ireland,  in  1803,  and  Rathbone's  Nar. 
p.  140. 

X  Penn  vol.  ii.  p.  205. 
§  Apol.  Prop,  xi,  sect.  6,  p.  366. 
II  Apol.  Prop.  xi.  sect.  7,  p.  370. 
i  Apol.  Prop.  xi.  sect.  7. 


On  their  Silent  Worship.  173 

In  some  instances  the  society,  like  the  devout  audience  of  a 
Roman  chapel,  during  I  he  Latin  service,  has  received  "  refresh- 
ings'''' from  addresses  in  a  foreign  language.  For  instance,  an 
English  audience  ^^  knew  that  one  of  the  Dutch  nation  spoke  by  the 
Spirit^  though  in  the  Dutch  language,  which  none  of  the  meeting  wn* 
der stood ;  because  they  all  found  refreshings.''''* 

The  society  has  often  dwelt  on  the  charms  of  their  silent  meet- 
ings. Their  apologist's  sober  prose  mounts  into  epic  poetry,  as 
he  gives  vent  to  his  hosannahs.t  It  is  evident  that  something  of 
this  kind  must  be  contrived  to  play  it  off.  During  the  painful 
rest  of  the  body  outwardly,  some  drama  must  be  displayed  with- 
in ;  for,  as  every  simple  christian  perceives  the  grand  character- 
istic ordinancesof  Christianity  to  be  removed  from  the  meeting  as 
completely  as  from  the  mosque ;  as  this  worship  can  be  perform- 
ed in  all  its  parts  as  well  without  words  as  by  words;  as  every 
individual  avows  the  infallible  guide  of  an  inward  light,  the  world 
could  not,  otherwise,  have  conceived  any  just  reason  that  could 
be  urged  against  Shackleton  and  the  Schismatic  Friends  ;  or  in  be- 
half of  their  own  public  assemblies.  The  apologist  even  in  his  lucid 
moments,  when  rationality  peers  amid  the  broken  clouds  of  mys- 
ticism, talks  thus  in  defence  of  public  meetings.  "  The  vessels" 
— (each  of  the  persons  in  the  assembly  who  contains  an  "  imvard^* 
fluid  or  "  light ;")  these  "  vessels"  being  set  close  together,  this 
caloric  or  "  light"  is  transfused  more  readily  from  vessel  to  ves- 
sel than  if  they  remained  at  honie.|  This,  to  say  the  least,  ap- 
pears natural  enough ! 

This  is  the  first  class  of  effects  produced  by  the  spirit  of  the 
silent  meetings.  But  there  was  not  always  silence.  When  the 
Spirit  "  stirs  up  a  word  to  edification,"  the  inspired  person  rises 
and  speaks  with  great  vehemence.  Their  ancients  coming  for- 
ward in  no  ordinary  characters,   made  no  ordinary   claims. 

»  The  witty  Faldo  had  remarked  "  Even  so  have  children  found  re- 
freshings at  a  puppet  shoiv."  Penn  with  wrath  rebukes  the  ungodly 
joke,  and  with  much  mystic  argument  undertakes  the  deience  of  the  or- 
thodoxy of  "  these  refrebhings."  '•  A  right  sense,'''  says  he,  "  may  be  had 
where  the  words  may  not  be  understood,  which  is  the  one  tongue  to  the 
children  of  the  light."  vol.  ii.  p.  268. 

f  See  Prop.  xi.  sect.  7,  &c. 
Consult  the  Apol.  Prop.  xi.  close  of  sect.  6,  8cc. 


174  Gn  their  Silent  Worship. 

'^  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God,"  was  in  olden  times  the  usual  preface- 
of  their  speeches,  and  their  writings.  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
is  upon  me,"  said  the  modest  Ambrose  Riggs.*  "This  is  God's 
xmrd  of  truth ;"  "  I  warrant  this  from  God ;"  "  I  speak  from  the 
sense  of  the  eternal  Spirit" — were  the  prefaces  of  Penn.t  And 
when  the  meek  Burroughs  '•  sounded  the  trumpet  out  of  Zion" 
with  fire  and  sword,  "  it  was  by  the  order  of  the  Spirit  of  God." 
"  The  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  him  saying."]: 

Their  modern  spirits  take  not  such  high  ground.  A  remnant  of 
the  ancient  prophets  does  indeed  claim  scriptural  honours  to  their 
extemporaneous  effusions ;  but  the  vulgar  crowd,  if  not  the  most 
orthodox,  introduce  their  homely  remarks  by  an  allusion  to  their 
"  mental  impressions." 

The  chief  object  of  these  discourses  has  been  to  defend  their 
peculiar  tenets ;  to  turn  man  to  the  oracle  within,  to  lead  him 
away  from  external  (which  with  them  is  paramount  to  carnal,) 
ordinances  ;  to  expatiate  on  the  sufferings  and  merits  of  their  mar- 
tyrs ;  to  extol  themselves  as  the  solitary  flock  of  Christ ;  to  pour  out 
mvectives  against  "  hirelings,"  and  against  '*  steeple  houses,"  and 
against  the  "dead  letter"  of  the  scriptures,  and  the  "  carnal  or- 
dinances" of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  against  the 
crying  sin  of  using  the  pronoun  "t/o?/,"  for  "  //tee  and  thou,''''  and 
against  ornaments  and  garments  not  of  the  society's  cut  and 
fashion ;  and  against  the  heinous  sin  of  salutations  by  uncovering 
die  head— which  iniquitous  practice  had  strangely  overrun 
Christendom ;  and  had  as  strangely  displaced  the  orthodox  cus- 
tom of  covering  the  head  in  worshipping  assemblies,  and  in  the 
presence  of  superiors ! 

The  freedom  of  speech  allowed  in  their  meetings  has  pro- 
duced scenes  painful  and  ludicrous.  I  have  mentioned  a  scene 
between  Keith  and  Penn.§  A  grave  Friend  aiming  at  the  quo- 
tation of  a  text,  sung  out  in  his  nasal  twang,  ''  In  my  father's 
house  arc  many  manchets."  And  pray,  said  a  simple  one,  "  what 
means  that  ?"  "  Manchets  are  round  cakes,  my  Friends."     "  In 

•  Pennington's  Works, Pref.  p.  19. 
■f-  Vol.  ii.  p.  553. 

t  See  his  "Trumpet  sounded,  &c.  Bugg's  Pict.  of  Quak.  p.  33  of  the 
Art.  of  Quak.  Faith,  and  *'  Snake,  yc."  edit.  2,  p.  204. 
§  Hist.  Diss,  in  Part  1.  sect.  2^. 


On  Public  Prayers.  175 

my  father's  house  are  many  manchets !" — Farnsworth  holdmg 
forth  with  wild  zeal  had  wandered  from  his  text.  (It  was  no  new 
thing.)  Elizabeth  Barnes,  herself  a  prophetess,  recalled  him 
by  the  olden  phrase — "Thou  art  whoring  from  the  Lord!" 
The  prophet  turned  round  with  such  a  countenance  as  Barclay 
believes  fit  to  produce  supernatural  effects,  and  made  a  most  un- 
courteous  retort  on  the  lady  in  her  ozm  set  phrase!  The  meeting 
was  thrown  hito  confusion.*  On  a  certain  occasion  as  one  ot 
their  ministers  was  moved  to  pray,  and  had  laid  the  broad  brim 
aside,  and  was  fairly  entitled  to  the  floor,  a  female  minister  was 
moved  at  that  instant  to  begin  "  her  m.essage;"  at  the  same  mo- 
ment another  member  was  moved  to  order  silence ;  another  was 
moved  to  "  hale  her  out  of  doors."  She,  under  the  previous  im- 
pulse, was  moved  to  speak  to  those  who  assembled  around  her 
without;  and  the  orderly  brother  within,  following  his  impulse, 
went  on  peaceably  with  his  prayer  !t 

PniH'. 

§  2.  Of  Public  Prayers. — "  Pray  without  ceasing." — St.  Paul. — 
The  prayers  which  the  church  offers  up  statedly,  by  her  Lord's 
commands,!  are  opposed  by  the  society  with  indecent  warmth  ;§ 
and  their  preachers,  rigid  in  principle,  never  pray  unless  under 
a  supernatural  impulse ;  and  this  spirit  seldom,  in  these  times^ 
makes  them  a  visit. 

♦  Penn  vol.  ii.  p.  219,  who  defends  Farnswm-th. 

■j-  See  Elizabeth  Bathurst's  book,  "  Truth  Vmdicated,"  p.  7,  8,  Sec- 
It  comes  recommended  to  the  Friends  by  the  high  names  of  C  Marshall 
andG.  Whitehead.  No.  8"6,  duod.  Phil.  Library.  Whitehead  who  de- 
fends the  above  vagary  of  the  lady,  assures  us  that  "  he  had  no  doubt  but 
that  she  was  di-vinely  ina/iired.'"  G.  Fox  relates  another  of  these  coun- 
ter impulses.  As  he  and  seme  of  his  friends  were  conducted  by  the 
military  along  the  streets  of  Jolmston,  George  was  moved  to  preach; 
Lancaster  was  moved  at  the  same  instant  "  to  sing  with  a  melodious 
voice."     Journ.  vol.  i.  p.  443. 

X  Phil.  iv.  6.     Psalm  Ixv.  2.     1  Tim.  ii.  1,  &c. 

§  "  Your  graces  before  and  after  meat,  your  prayers  and  praises,  the 
Lord  abhors.  Parnelie's  Writings,  &c.  p.  28,  36.  Bugg's  Pict.  p.  62, 
and  Penn  lets  himself  down  against  them  thus — "  I  declare,"  (as  an  au- 
thor observed  of  this  singular  man,  when  Penn  was  about  to  curse,  he  al- 
ways by  way  of  prophesy  and  solemnity,  did  it  from  the  Lord — "  I  declare 
from  the  Holy  God,  that  an  utter  blast  is  coming  on  them  all."  Vol.  ii. 
p.  273. 


176  On  Singing  Psalms,  §'c. 

Ask  the  Quaker  why  he  has  not  been  in  his  closet  ?  "  The  Spi- 
rit has  not  moved  me."  But  thou  hast  not  craved  the  benedic- 
tion of  God  on  thy  family.  "  The  Spirit  did  not  move  me." 
Thou  hast  not  implored  a  blessing  on  thy  food  ?  "  I  made  a  pause 
— but  the  Spirit  did  not  move  me."  That  meeting  for  discipline 
was  not  constituted  by  prayer  ?  "■  The  Spirit  did  not  move  any 
of  our  elders."  Meetings  on  First  and  Fifth-days  are  held  and 
dismissed  ;  I  hear  no  supplications  oifered  before  the  throne  of 
grace  ?  "  The  Spirit  did  not  move  us."  I  do  not  know  but  old  John 
Brown,  of  Wamphry,  might  insist  that  he  is  right,  and  that  facts 
bear  him  out!  One  thing,  however,  we  all  do  know.  The  Holy 
Spirit,  by  a  solemn  precept,  has  made  it  a  duty  binding  most 
closely  our  consciences,  "  to  pray  zcithout  ceasing.''''  But  this  spi- 
rit, that  brings  this  doctrine  and  these  practices  into  the  society, 
does  not  cease  to  didate  excuses  for  "  restraining  prayer  P^ 

In  olden  times  there  vv-as  much  more  prayer  in  the  society. 
Their  fathers  carried  it  with  them  from  those  societies  which 
they  abandoned.  We  have  some  of  their  best  specimens  of 
prayer  attached  to  the  sermons  of  Penn,  and  Whitehead,  and 
Stephen  Crisp.  There  is  one  peculiar  feature  stamped  on  them 
all.  They  confess  no  sins  :*  they  mourn  over  no  delinquencies : 
they  abound  with  gratitude  for  their  superior  attainments ;  and, 
with  the  piety  of  him  who  went  up  to  pray  with  the  publican, 
they  thank  God  "  that  they  are  doing  his  will  on  earth  as  it  is  done 
in  heaven.'''']  And,  occasionally,  we  meet  with  apostrophes  which 
breathe  more  of  malediction  than  of  blessing,  like  Brian*s  ban — 

"  And  the  few  words  that  reached  the  air, 

♦'  Although  the  holiest  name  is  there, 

"  Had  more  of  mj'sticism  than  prayer  .  .  .  ."if. 

Sir  Walter  Scott. 

§  3.  Of  Singing  Psalms,  <^c. — "  Paritcr  omnes,  vclut  uno  ore, 
et  uno  corde,  confessionis  psalmum  Domino  offerunt." — Basil. 

*  Penn  cannot  even  speak  respectfully  of  our  confessions  of  sin  in 
prayer.     See  vol.  ii.  pp.  271,  676.  677. 

t  Crisp,  p.  20,  edit.  Phil.  A.  D.  1787. 

X  See  specimens  of  this  in  Penn  vol.  ii.  p.  559,  &c.  See  his  book  against 
Faldo  passim.  His  "  Reasoning  against  Railing,"  which  is  strangely 
misnamed,  and  his  "  Serious  Apology."  These  are  fruitful  in  prophetical 
curses. 


On  Singing  Psalms,  §*c.  177 

Magnus  in  Epist.  63. — This  branch  of  public  worship  is  enjoined 
on  us  by  the  highest  authority.  "  Sing  unto  the  Lord."  Utter 
his  praises  "  in  a  song."  And  the  reasons  brought  to  enforce  the 
duty,  are  taken  not  from  any  peculiar  slate  of  the  church,  but 
are  such  as  do  present  forcibly  the  perpetual  obligation  of  it.* 

Singing  evidently  implies  music  ;  and,  as  the  very  form,  and 
notes,  and  air  are  no  where  fixed  by  divine  authority,  we  arc 
guided  by  the  general  canon.  "  Let  all  things  be  done  decently 
and  in  order." 

The  friends  have  not  been  visited  by  an  impulse  from  their 
spirit,  to  sing  the  praises  of  God  in  public.  The  society  is  op- 
posed to  the  sweet  harmony  of  music.t  They  act  on  principle; 
their  spirit  has  persisted  in  keeping  them  in  obstinate  silence.  It 
has  not  yet  revealed  the  notes,  the  bars,  and  staves  :  and  tender 
consciences  must  not,  and  dare  not  fabricate  them.  It  is  "  car- 
nal wisdom"  that  invents  these  bars  and  staves  and  quavers ;  to 
sing  them  is  ''^fleshly  exercise,''''  and  it  is,  therefore,  rejected  from 
their  spiritual  system ! 

There  is  another  difficulty  in  their  way.  The  songs  of  the 
church  are  drawn  out  of  the  holy  scriptures  alone.  She  rejects 
all  the  effusions  of  modern  inspirations.  In  thus  using,  in  our 
songs,  the  experiences  of  the  patriarchs  and  prophets,  such  as 

*  Colos.  iii.  16,  8cc — These  reasons  are  drawn  from  the  natural  and 
moral  character  of  God.  We  are  enjoined  to  celebrate  his  praises  in  a 
song,  because  he  is  God  ;  because  he  made  us  ;  because  of  his  providence  ; 
because  he  has,  with  the  most  magnificent  display  of  his  natural  and  mo- 
ral attributes,  redeemed  us.  Psalms  passim.  Our  Lord  and  his  apostles 
set  the  example  of  the  duty,  under  the  new  order  of  the  christian  dispen- 
sation. Math.  xxvi.  30.  The  Holy  Ghost,  by  the  apostle  James,  has 
enjoined  this  duty  on  the  church.  James  v.  13.  Tiie  singing  of  the  praise 
of  God  formed  a  prominent  part  of  the  exircise  of  the  militant  church, 
as  delineated  in  the  vision  of  John.  Rev.  v.  9,  &.c.  The  christian  church,  in 
her  primitive  and  purest  times,  regarded  tiiis  as  a  sacred  duty.  See 
Cave's  Prim.  Chris,  b.  i.  c.  9.  Bingham's  Orig.  Eccles.  vol.  vi.  lib.  14, 
cap.  1,2.  Plin.  lib.  x.  ep'.st.  97,  &c.  "  Soliti  (Christiani)  essent  state 
die — carmen  Christo  quasi  Deo  dicere  secum  invicem."  Bern,  de  Moore 
Perpet.  Comp.  vol.  vi.  pp.  75,  76.  Calvinus  in  1  Cor.  xiv.  Lucian,  (or 
the  author  of  the  Dial.  Tom.  ii.  Philop.)  speaking  of  the  Christians,  says 
"  They  fast  long,  spending  whole  nights  in  watchings  and  singing  hymns." 
Wettenhall  on  Gifts  and  offices,  edit.  1679,  p.  268.  And  (what  is  not  the 
least  with  the  society)  Barclay  pleads  for  singing,  "  as  a  sweet  and  re- 
freshing part  of  worship." 

t  There  are,  individually,  many  exceptions.  The  gay  Friends  in  our 
large  cities  begin  to  introduce  musical  instruments  into  tlieir  families. 

2G 


178  On  Singivg  Vsahns,  8Cc. 

are  there  enrolled  by  the  immediate  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  we  incur,  in  the  opinion  of  the  society,  the  deep  guilt  of 
hypocrisy.  "  You  utter,'*''  say  they,  "  what  suited  them,  not  what 
suits  you  ;  you  apply  to  your  own  feelings  their  experiences.'^''  "  You 
utter  lies,''''* 

This  heavy  charge  betrays  sheer  ignorance  of  the  nature  and 
design  of  this  part  of  divine  worship,  and  a  single  explanation  is 
enough  to  repel  it.  We  sing,  not  only  to  give  vent  to  pious  emo- 
tions, but  io produce  them;  and  there  is  a  strong  moral  tendency 
in  this  part  of  worship  to  produce  them.  Thematter  of  our  songs 
is  entirely  dictated  by  the  Spirit  of  God  speaking  in  the  Bible. 
These  divine  truths  are  calculated  to  regulate  our  views;  to  col- 
lect the  wandering  thoughts ;  to  rein  the  turbulent  heart ;  to  in- 
vigorate faith ;  to  animate  zeal ;  to  inflame  our  love  to  God,  and 
to  urge  the  whole  soul  forward  in  holy  exercises  and  rational 
devotion.  The  church  combining  her  energies  with  one  mouth, 
and  by  the  grace  of  God,  with  one  heart,  sings  the  love  of  her 
Redeemer — or  the  divine  goodness — or  the  terror  and  magnifi- 
cence of  his  justice — or  the  guilt  of  sin  and  the  vengeance  that 
pursues  it.  The  lofty  nature  of  the  theme,  combined  with  the 
tender  and  enchanting  force  of  the  music,  elevates  the  soul  to 
God  in  holy  aspirations  of  love  and  delight;  or  it  melts  it  into 
unaffected  sorrow  for  sin,  and  inspires  it  with  the  abhorrence  of 
crime. 

If  there  be  any  weight  in  their  objection  against  singing  psalms, 
it  must  strike  with  equal  force  against  their  public  prayers.  Their 
preachers  sometimes  pray.  No  preacher  can  utter  the  precise 
sentiments  and  vows  of  all  the  assembly.  All  do  as  really  profess 
to  join  in  prayer  as  in  singing.  What  the  speaker  may  utter  in 
accordance  to  his  own  feelings  and  those  of  a  part  of  the  audi- 
ence, must  be  wide  of  the  feelings  and  vows  of  others. 

But  whatever  the  Friend-,  do  plead  for  in  theory  on  this  arti- 
cle of  their  creed,  it  is  certain  that  they  practise  more  singing  than 
we  do.  We  sing  before  and  after  sermon  only;  but  their  preach- 
ers, male  and  female,  monopolizing  the  whole,  sing  both  prayers 

*  See  Penn  vol.  ii.  p.  60,  Stubb's  Light,  &c.  p.  151,  and  Bar.  Apol 
Prop.  X.  sect.  26,  p.  421. 


On  Singing  Psalms,  Sfc,  179 

and  strmons!  and  still  their  grand  tenet  is  not  surrendered.  For, 
verily,  their  notes  are  not  according  to  the  carnal  rules  of  the 
amateur;  and  in  numbers  their  singing  is  not  altogether  human!* 

*  The  friends  will  sing  only  when  carried  out  by  the  sanction  of  an  im- 
pulse. I  put  the  following  case  into  the  hands  of  their  grave  casuists,  to 
say  by  what  impulse  it  was  produced.  An  old  Friend  of  Philadelphia, 
husband  of  a  minister  who  made  a  missionary  tour  of  Europe,  surprised 
himself  and  his  family  by  new  musical  powers.  In  a  dream  of  the  night, 
when  sleep  had  f  lUen  on  hiin,  he  struck  up  with  vigorous  hmgs,  the  notes 
of  a  well  known  lively  tune.  Tliert  is  no  saying  how  long  he  would  have 
yielded  himself  up  to  the  «'  refreshing  exercise;^'  for  it  is  certain  he  was 
awakened  by  his  family  crovling  \.\  co  istL-rn  tion,  aro.uid  his  couch,  to 
leai'n  by  actual  insjjection,  whence  "  Yankee  Doodle"  could  possibly  pia- 
ceed!     (J.  Queen.) 


CHAPTER  III. 

OF    THE    MINISTRY. 


«>aOa." — St.  Paul. 


1.  The  office  of  the  ministry  was  ordained  by  our  Lord.*  The 
church  is  his  house.  None  may  intrude  on  it  offices  Avhich  he 
has  not  ordained ;  none  may  revive  what  he  has  revoked ;  none 
may  abolish  what  he  has  appointed.  In  theology  these  are  axioms. 

2.  The  extraordinary  offices  of  other  times  must  be  carefully 
distinguished  from  the  ordinary  offices.  In  the  Jewish  church 
the  Levites  were  the  stated  ministry.  It  was  made  their  duty  to 
expound  the  law  to  the  people.!  On  particular  emergencies,  ex- 
traordinary officers  were  sent.  Besides  the  ordinary  function  of 
teaching,  the  prophet  wrought  miracles  and  predicted  future 
events.  But  this  office  was  not  hereditary ;  it  came  immediately 
from  God ;  and  it  ceased  with  the  particular  exigency  which  de- 
manded it,  or  it  expired  with  the  life  of  the  prophet. 

In  the  christian  church  we  recognise  the  same  classification  of 
offices.  Our  Lord  "  gave  apostles,  evangelists  and  prophets  ;" 
these  he  invested  with  an  extraordinary  commission — these  he 
armed  with  extraordinary  powers.  He  had  great  work  to  be  per- 
formed by  them.  It  was  no  less  than  the  establishment  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  overthrow  of  philosophism,  idolatry  and  super- 
stition ;  and  these,  though  supported  by  the  prince  of  darkness, 
and  by  potentates  and  sages,  tumbled  in  ruins  before  the  truth, 
and  the  great  offixes  of  Christ's  house.  They  were  swept  away 
as  a  mound  of  sand  before  the  roiling  tide. 

But  after  Christianity  was  established,  it  was  necessary  that 
there  should  be  officers  in  the  house  of  God,  who  should  rule  and 
teach  permanently.  Hence  another  class  of  officers  was  appoint- 

*  Eph.  iv.  11,  12. 

t  Lfv.  x.ll.  Neh.  viii.  8. 


On  the  Ministry,  181 

ed.*  These  were  ordained  in  every  church  by  the  apostles  and 
evangelists  ;t  and  in  their  turn  these  committed  the  office  to  faith- 
ful men  who  succeeded  them. 

3.  This  class  of  offices  was  ordained  by  our  Lord  to  be  of  per- 
petual duration. 

The  apostolical  office  was  such,  that  it  could  not  be  hereditary. 
This  point  is  settled  by  St.  Peter  in  the  character  of  an  apostle 
which  he  has  drawn.  The  following  are  the  essential  ingredients 
entering  into  the  composition  of  this  office.  He  was  one  who  had 
been  an  eye  witness  of  our  Lord's  resurrection ;  he  had  seen  him 
alive  after  his  passion — he  had  conversed  with  him — he  had 
received  his  commission  immediateli/  from  him — he  wrought  mi- 
racles and  predicted  future  events.  The  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
followed  the  laying  on  of  his  hands :  of  course  when  be  died,  his 
office  could  not  be  conveyed  to  a  successor.|  The  claim,  therefore, 
of  Pope,  Metropolitan  bishop,  and  Quaker,  is  equally  vain  and 
presumptuous. 

The  office  of  evangelist  and  prophet,  taken  in  the  higher  ac- 
ceptation,§  must  also  be  ranked  in  this  superior  class.  They 
had  the  extraordinary  gifts,  and  they  were  destined  to  their  of- 
fice, and  to  the  field  of  their  labours,  by  a  mandate  pronounced 
from  heaven. II 

In  determining  the  duration  of  these  offices,  we  are  to  be  guided 
by  this  maxim.  The  scriptures  being  the  only  rule  by  which 
the  church  is  directed,  in  every  matter  affecting  doctrine  and 
policy,  it  is  evident,  that  every  office  designed  by  her  Lord  to 
be  permanent,  and  every  thing  respecting  these  offices,  will  be 
fully  and  distinctly  marked  out  in  them ;  and,  when  no  rule  is 
delivered  respecting  the  call,  or  the  qualifications,  or  the  duties 
of  an  office ;  when  no  orders  are  issued  by  her  Lord,  respecting 
future  proceedings  in  those  matters,  it  is  thence  most  distinctly 
declared  that  those  offices  are  withdrawn. 

Let  us  apply  this  maxim  to  the  matter  before  us.     No  canon 

*  Eph.  iv.  11.  last  clause. 

t  2Tim.ii.  2,  Tit.  1,5. 

:j:  Consult  Acts  i.  22,  and  1  Cor.  ix.  See  Campbell's  Eccl.  Lecture?, 
sect.  V. 

§  To  prophesy  in  the  lower  acceptation  is  to  preach,  1  Cor.  xiv.  3.  to 
sing  psalms,  Chron.  xxv.  1,  2,  3,  and  to  mterprct,  Exod,  vii.  1. 

II  Acts  xiii.  2. 


182  On  the  Minisfri/. 

is  delivered  respecting  the  call  to  any  of  these  extraordinary  of- 
fices. Nothing  is  intimated  respecting  the  qualifications ;  nothing 
respecting  the  duties  ;  nothing  respecting  their  ordination.  The 
church  then,  has  no  orders  on  the  matter.  This  silence  pro- 
nounces his  will  respecting  these  offices.  They  are  revoked. 
Facts  corroborate  this  proof.  These  offices  expired  with  that 
number  who  were  originally  invested  with  them. 

But  our  Lord  had  said,  "  Go  ye,  and  teach  all  nations  ;  and  lo  ! 
I  am  with  you  always,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world."  There 
was,  therefore,  another  order  of  teachers  and  rulers  in  his  house, 
who  were  to  teach,  in  succession,  "all  nations;"  and,  therefore, 
to  exist  throughout  the  ages  that  shall  roll  on  till  the  "  end  of  the 
world."  These  are  distinguished  from  the  members  of  the 
church ;  and  they  are  three  in  number.  1.  The  pastor,  who  is 
also  called  bishop,  and  teaching  elder.  2.  The  ruling  elder.  3. 
The  deacon.* 

These  offices  were  appointed  by  our  Lord.  Faithful  men 
were  ordained  to  them,  by  the  apostles,  in  every  church.  They 
were  enjoined  to  commit  their  office  to  faithful  men  to  succeed 
them.t  The  fullest  instructions  are  delivered  in  the  scriptures, 
respecting  the  requisite  qualifications,  and  the  calling,  the  choos- 
ing, and  ordaining  of  men  to  them.  The  duties,  enjoined  on  them 
with  no  ordinary  degree  of  solemnity,  make  it  evident,  that  the 
office,  to  which  the  duties  are  attached,  is  not  occasional,  but 
permanent  and  most  important.^  Hitherto,  there  has  been  a  suc- 
cession of  thcm.§  There  is  no  intimation  in  the  divine  records, 
that  a  period  shall  arrive  in  the  militant  church,  when  they  shall 
be  unnecessary,  or  shall  cease.  On  the  contrary,  our  Lord's 
promise  "  Lo !  I  am  with  you  to  the  end  of  the  world,"  is  the 

*  Acts  XX.  17,  romp,  with  28.  iTim.  v.  17.  Rom.  :<iii.  8.  See  Dr. 
Campbell's  Ecck's.  Lect.  Lect.  iv.  ad  fin.  On  the  idenlity  of  the  office 
marked  l)v  these  three  namts,  the  pastor,  bishop  and  teaching  elder,  see 
Dr.  Miller's  letters  on  cliurch  governntent. 

f  Acts  xiv.  23.     2  Tim.  ii.  2.     Tit.  i.  5. 

X  1  Thes.  V.  12.     Heb.  >;iii.  7.     1  Pet.  v.  1.     1  Tim.  iii.  8,  13. 

§  On  the  question  redirecting  the  succession  of  the  ministry,  throngh  the 
ages  of  the  apostacy  of  Rome,  sec  Dr.  Owen's  Disc,  on  the  Spirit  and  spi- 
ritual gifts.  Ch.  \\.  sect.  9,  10.  Turret,  vol.  iii.  Loc.  18,  quest.  25. 
Bern,  de  Moore  Perp.  Com.  in  Markii  Comp.  vol.  vi.  cap.  32,  sect.  13, 


On  the  Ministry.  183 

most  secure  guarantee  that  there  shall  be  a  perpetual  succession 
of  pastors  and  rulers. 

4.  No  person,  destitute  of  the  requisite  qualifications,  may  as- 
sume the  office  of  pastor  or  bishop.  He  must  possess  good  na- 
tural talents.  "  There  are  some  who  believe  that  there  is  a  sort 
of  divinity  in  the  utter  absence  of  understanding.  They  esteem 
idiots  and  lunatics  as  prophets  ;  they  think  their  ravings  celestial, 
because  they  are  nonsense ;  their  stupidity  instructive,  because 
unintelligible."*  This  is  the  sin  which  besets  the  people  who 
trust  in  impulses.  But  the  world  has  become  too  enlightened  to 
countenance  the  folly.  Their  declamation  has  passed  away  like 
the  roar  of  a  distant  mountain  stream.  The  age  demands  that 
the  ministry  be  committed  to  men  of  talents. 

These  talents  must  be  strengthened  and  polished  by  the  sci- 
ences.    The  bishop  must  be  master  of  his  own  language,  so  as 
to  convey  his  ideas  in  a  pleasing  manner,  even  to  men  of  taste 
and  letters.     The  Spirit  of  God  conveyed  the  divine  mind  to  us 
in  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  languages.     He  ought  to  be  master 
of  these.     Without  this  branch  of  learning,  the  polemic  is  not 
effectually  prepared  to  enter  the  lists.     Without  it,  the  Humes, 
with  all  their  idol  reason,  the  Penns  and  Barclays  with  all  their 
idol  revelations,  are  at  the  mercy  of  translators,  and  want  the  first 
elements  of  candid  criticism.     The  bishop  is  thrown  into  every 
company ;  he  must  be  able  to  support  conversation  with  men  of 
taste  and  science  ;  he  must  be  able  to  detect  the  infidel  in  the 
labyrinth  of  scepticism ;  to  confound  the  wit  of  the  sophist ;  to 
silence  the  gainsayer  ;  to  recall  the  wanderer  by  the  force  of  per- 
suasion ;  and  the  erroneous  by  the  light  of  argument.     He  must, 
therefore,  be  an  able  critic,  a  profound  reasoner,  a  master  of  per- 
suasion :  he  must  have  a  deep  knowledge  of  the  human  mind, 
and  of  human  nature.     He  must  be  a  patient  casuist,  a  devout 
and  eloquent  preacher  :  he  must  be  well  versed  in  the  history  of 
the  church,  and  of  his  own  country,  and  of  ancient  and  modern 
nations.     In  short,  to  support  the  dignity  of  the  gospel  ministry, 
he  must  be  great  in  every  thing  that  respects  science,  and  mo- 
rals, and  religion.     The  advocate  of  an  illiterate  ministry  is  a 

*  Indep.  Whig,  No.  65,  vol.  iii.  p.  104. 


184  On  the  Ministry, 

traitor  to  the  sciences,  and  an  enemy  to  the  gospel.  He  would 
disarm  the  soldiers  of  the  cross :  he  would  surrender  the  inte- 
rests of  religion  into  the  hands  of  infidelity  and  philosophism.* 

Finally,  these  talents  and  acquirements  must  be  sanctified  by 
the  grace  of  God.  The  former  are  simply  the  materials  of  the 
machine.  It  is  the  latter,  it  is  grace  that  combines,  impels,  and 
directs  it,  so  as  to  call  forth  its  energies,  and  produce  the  proper 
effects.f 

5.  None  may  assume  this  office  Avithout  a  lawful  call.j 

A  call  is  either  extraordinary,  that  is,  without  the  intervention 
of  human  means,  or,  it  is  ordinary.  The  call  of  the  apostles  was 
of  the  former  class :  the  latter  is  eflfccted  by  common  means,  un- 
der Divine  Providence.  Such  was  the  call  of  the  pastors  and 
inilers,  whom  the  apostles  ordained. 

In  this  last  class  there  is  another  distinction.  A  call  is  either 
internal  or  external.  The  former  is  from  the  Most  High.  It  is  ex- 
pressed not  by  dreams,  nor  visions,  nor  impulses.  Distinguished 
talents  and  piety  mark  out  the  object :  he  is  led  on  by  a  combi- 
nation of  events  in  Providence ;  his  purposes  are  overruled,  and 
his  way  is  hedged  up;  he  is  constrained  by  powerful  motives  to 
come  forward  to  the  ministry.  This  is  his  internal  call.  The 
proper  officers  of  the  church,  guided  by  the  holy  scriptures,  de- 
cide on  his  qualifications  ;  thence  the  church  prays  him  to  "  take 
the  oversight  of  them."  This  is  his  external  call.  It  agrees  with 
the  other  thus  far ;  that  it  is  brought  about  in  the  course  of  a 
-watchful  providence,  but  b}^  a  dillerent  class  of  means.§     The 

•  It  has  been  too  often  said,  that  the  apostles  were  ilHterate  men  ;  and 
the  unbelieving  Pharisees  called  them  ii^tt-nai  But  they  were  trained  up 
in  the  school  of  Christ,  during  the  space  of  three  years  ;  and,  to  complete 
their  leamicd  education,  he  conferred  on  them,  by  a  miracle,  the  gift  of 
tongues.  We  have  not  on  record  a  more  cutting  reproof  of  an  illiterate 
ministry  and  its  advocates,  than  this  action  of  our  Lord.  Did  the  Friends 
appreciate  this  miraculous  intei-position  of  the  Head  of  the  cliurch,  they 
■would  cease  to  glory  in  their  illiterate  ministers.  See  Bar.  Apol.  Prop. 
X.  sect.  13.  &:c. 

\  1  Cor.  xiii.  1.  4. 

X  Jer.  xxiii.  21,  32. 

§  Under  this  class  may  be  ranked  a  species  of  call  that  is  in  a  certain 
sense  extraordinary,  yet  not  so  as  to  be  classed  with  that  of  the  apostles. 
For,  however  much  his  call  may  be  out  of  the  usual  way,  the  person 
comes  forward  with  no  extraordinary  powers.  Of  this  nature  was  the 
call  of  the  Reformers  ;  such  was  the  call  of  the  two  young  laymen  who 
being  carried  captive  among  the  East  Indians,  formed  christian  assemblies. 


On  the  Ministry.  185 

pfistor  is  set  apart  by  prayer  and  fasting,  and  "  the  laying  on  of 
the  hands  of  the  presbytery."*  By  these  simple  definitions  we 
set  apart,  as  irrevalent  matter,  that  tedious  and  loose  declama- 
tion of  Barclay,  which  forms  the  greater  part  of  his  disquisition 
on  the  ministry. 

6.  The  ministry  have  strong  claims  on  the  regard  and  protec- 
tion of  their  country.  As  persons  of  distinguished  talents,  great 
literary  attainments,  and  correct  morals,  they  possess  much  in- 
dividual influence,  which  they  exert  for  the  good  of  the  commu- 
nity. And  their  official  labours  have  the  greatest  tendency  to 
promote  peace  and  good  order;  to  check  vice,  to  cherish  virtue, 
to  prevent  crimes,  to  Ibster  the  spirit  of  religious  and  civil  liberty. 
Their  official  labours  are  a  national  blessing;  and  every  patriot 
will  duly  appreciate  them.  What  would  be  the  moral  and  politi- 
cal effects  produced  on  society  and  the  nation  at  large,  by  the 
degradation  of  their  character  and  office,  or  hy  their  expulsion? 
This  may  be  conceived  from  a  survey  of  the  m^ral  character  of 
England  under  the  reign  of  Mary  and  of  Elizabeth,  and  of  Scotland 
and  England  under  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  and  James  II.  The 
bigotry  of  the  court  had  nearly  crushed  the  faithful  ministry.  Ig- 
norance and  superstition,  leading  on  the  horrid  train  which  they 
naturally  produce,  had  established  their  reign  over  the  mass  of 
the  population.  They  had  chained  down  the  genius  of  liberty, 
and  were  preparing  the  people  to  bend  their  willing  necks  to  the 
worst  of  slavery — that  over  the  conscience  t 

Still  more  distinctly  may  we  conceive  of  these  effects  from  facts 
in  the  history  of  France.  The  sanguinary  house  of  Bourbon  had 
inflicted  many  evils  on  the  ministry.  Charles  IX.  young  in  years, 
but  old  in  crime,  struck  the  first  dreadful  blow  in  the  massacre  of 
St.  Bartholomew.]:  New  tyrants  added  fresh  injuries :  and  at 
the  distance  of  a  hundred  ^^ears,  Lewis  XIV.  let  slip  the  fiends 

by  preaching  the  word.  Theodos.  I/ih.  i.cap.  23.  Sozom.  Lib.  i.  cap.  15. 
S'nch  was  the  call  of  the  captive  lady,  who  brought  the  Queen  of  the 
Therians  over  to  the  faith,  thence  the  king  and  the  nation.  Ruffin.  Lib.  x. 
cap.  11,  Turret,  vol.  iii.  loc.  18,  quest.  23,  sect.  16,  17,  18,  19,  &c.  And 
such  the  call  of  John  Adams  in  Pitcairn's  Island,  in  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

*    1  Tim.  iv.  14. 

-j-  Hume  Hist.  eh.  61  and  67.  "Neal  vol.  i.  ch.  4,  5,  6,  vol.  iv.ch.  &.  Dr. 
Cook's  Hist.  vol.  ii.  ch.  12,  vol.  iii.  ch.  22,  23,  26. 

X  In  A.  D.  1572. 


186  On  the  Ministry. 

of  persecution.  By  a  succession  of  cruelties,  hy  massacres,  an«i 
banishment,  the  body  of  the  faithful  mini.stry  was  destro3^ed  ;  the 
rest,  a  wretched  remnant,  pining  in  obscurity,  fell  by  degrees  a 
prey  to  the  ignorance  and  the  superstition  of  the  age.  The  way 
was  thus  gradually  paved  for  the  deadly  march  of  Deism.  Led 
on  at  last,  by  Voltaire  and  his  satellites,  this  frightful  demon  fill- 
ed the  nation  with  its  emissaries :  these,  in  their  progress,  met 
with  feelile  opposition:  "truth  had  fallen  in  the  streets;"  the 
faithful  Avatchmcn  were  gone.  That  singular  species  of  enthusi- 
asts steady  to  their  bloody  purpose,  confounded  the  catholic 
priest  with  the  reformed  pastor ;  the  abuses  of  superstition  with 
the  holy  religion  of  the  Bible.  Their  deep  laid  conspiracy 
against  Christianity  burst  forth  in  the  Revolution ;  and  it  buried 
religion  and  government,  and  morals,  and  the  nation  in  blood  and 
havoc.  These  facts  show  that  the  principles  which  breathe  hos- 
tility against  the  christian  ministry,  are  plotting  treason  against 
the  country. 

From  the  nature  of  their  office  the  ministry  have  to  oppose  the 
progress  of  infidelity,  enthusiasm  and  crime.  The  slaves  of  these 
three  have  always  hated,  and  will  always  hate,  the  ministry. 
This  explains  a  fact  on  record,  on  the  page  of  histoiy,  and  which 
is  established  by  evidence  daily.  I  allude  to  the  three  public 
and  avowed  enemies  of  the  mini-trj^;  the  s.icicty  of  Friends;  the 
society  of  Deists ;  and  the  dilTcrent  clas.^cs  of  immoral  characters. 
That  the  last  two  classes  should  be  decidedly  hostile,  is  no  matter 
of  surprise.  The  unsanctificd  heart  has  not  a  deeper  characteris- 
tic than  this.  It  hates  the  power  that  strips  it  of  its  idols.  But 
the  hostility  of  the  Friends  is  from  principle,  it  is  not  personal ; 
it  is  not  the  effect  merely  of  the  sufferings  of  their  founders,  under 
a  persecuting  priesthood  :  though  this  has  had  its  influence,  yet 
it  is  naturally  engendered  by  their  great  tenet.  Barclay  explains 
the  mystery  in  the  following  consistent  manner.  The  primitive 
church  possessefl  "  the  Spirit  and  the  life;"*  the  night  of  apostacy 
succeeded  ;  "  tiie  life  and  substance  of  the  christian  religion  icas  lost;''''* 
the  sitccession  u-as  cut  off;  the  true  seed  was  lost  in  them  that  held 
the  sacred  office;  the  result  was  fatal  to  them  ;  their  line  and  of- 

*  Apol.  Prop.  X.  sect.  5,  p.  291.  The  usual  cant  of  the  Socinian  sec- 
tary. 


On  the  Ministnj.  187 

fice  became  extinct.  And  as  an  estate  that  has  been  entailed, 
devolves  to  the  prince  of  the  realm,  when  there  is  no  heir  to 
claim  it,  and  as  he  gives  it  again  to  whom  he  will,  even  so  the 
faithful  ministry  being  extinct,  the  office,  like  an  entailed  estate, 
devolved  back  on  Christ.  He  gave  it  to  whom  he  pleased.  This 
event  which  has  no  parallel  in  history,  took  place  in  England 
during  the  civil  convulsions  of  Charles  I.  and  Cromwell.  Christ 
"gare  the  title  and  true  right  to  those  who  turned  to  the  pure  light  ivith- 
?•«."*  George  Fox,  cordwainer,  and  his  co-adjutors  were  the 
royal  heirs  ;  they  received  the  whole  right  and  title  in  fee  simple. 

Hence  their  jealousy  and  unrelenting  hostility.  They  view  the 
ministry  with  the  same  feelings  with  which  the  intruder  views 
the  true  heir  at  law,  who  claims  his  property.  The  war  they 
bring  is,  therefore,  a  war  of  extermination ;  there  cannot  be  even 
an  armistice,  until  they  surrender  their  leading  tenet,  or  zoe  give  up 
our  Bible ! 

The  office  which  the  Society  has  created  in  the  room  of  the 
ministry,  is  specifically  different.  It  is  a  pure  anomaly  in  the 
religious  world  ;  it  bears  not  the  features  of  the  pastor,  nor  of  the 
diocesan  bishop,  nor  of  patriarch,  nor  of  pope.  It  makes  an  ap- 
proach to  the  apostolical  office;  it  is  fabricated  entirely  out  of 
immediate  Revelations.!  These  constitute  the  office ;  these  create 
the  necessary  qualifications  ;  these  form  the  call  to  active  services ; 
these  suggest  the  ideas;  these  put  words  into  the  lips.  Hence 
they  who  are  invested  with  the  office  assume  the  title  of"  apostles^'' 
and  place  themselves  in  the  line  of  successors  to  St.  Peter  I 

We  have  shown  that  the  apostolical  office  could  not,  according 
to  its  nature,  be  hereditary.  But  admitting  that  it  were,  the 
successors  must  come  prepared  to  establish  their  claims  by  "  vir- 
tues and  miracles.''^ 

•  See  Apol.  Prop.  x.  sect.  10,  p.  303. 

+  "  Ministei-  the  woi-d  faithfully  as  it  is  manifested  and  revealed  to 
them-"     Advices  of  the  Yearly  Meet.  Lond.  so  late  as  1802,  ^c. 

^  «'  Notandum  est  hoc,  &c."  It  is  to  be  observed  that  neither  "ttptfc" 
a  miracle,  nor  "  rji/wt/w"  a  sign  was  required  from  the  prophet  who  taught 
the  law  and  exhorted  to  the  fulfilment  of  its  duties.  But  the  prophet  who 
demanded  the  faith  of  men  to  a  new  article  of  belief  was  called  on  for  his 
sign,  or  miracle;  and  these  he  gave  on  suitable  occasions. _  Grotiusin 
]3eu't.  xviii.  22-  The  Jews  acted  on  this  principle.  Math.  xii.  38.  Luke 
xi.  16,  29,  &c.  Our  Saviour  would  not  yield  to  the  caprice  of  men,  nor 
permit  them  t©  dictate  to  him  the  time  or  nature  of  his  miracles.     But  he 


188  On  the  Ministry. 

"  That  IS  not  necessary,"  says  the  apologiit ;  "  we  luring  no 
ne-iv  gospel,  but  that  which  was  confirmed  by  the  miracles  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles."*  The  society  docs  bring  a  gospel  radi- 
cally altered,  if  not  new;  many  of  their  doctrines  are  new;  they 
exclude  from  their  system  the  most  holy  ordinances  of  baptism 
ai::d  the  supper ;  they  introduce  the  divine  right  of  female  preach- 
ing, and  "  female  prelacy  ;''t  and  the  "  bald,  unjointed"  form  of 
their  worship  does  not  bear  any  near  resemblance  to  the  plat- 
form of  the  New  Testament. 

To  bring  forward  this  new  model  of  the  gospel  they  present 
themselves  under  the  title  of ''  apostles,"  and  claim  the  honours 
of*  immediate  revelations."  Hence  we  demand  of  them  evidence 
at  least  ecjual  to  that  of  the  holy  apostles.  "  That  is  not  incum- 
bent on  us,"  says  Barclay,  '•  because  Christ  and  his  apostles  es- 
tablished their  commission,  and  the  gospel  by  miracles;  there  is 
no  reason  why  wc  should  repeat  them;  their  proofs  are  our  proofs.^ 

This  argument  has  no  parallel  in  the  royal  logic"of  John  of 
Munster.  History  informs  us  that  this  person  (he  was  a  tailor) 
at  the  head  of  the  fanatics  of  Germany,  set  up  certain  claims  to 
the  throne  of  Zion.  The  sage  reasoned  in  the  manner  of  Bar- 
clay. "  It  is  admitted  b3'^  all  that  David  and  Solomon  were  le- 
gitimate kings  at  Jerusalem ;  they  gave  sufficient  proofs  of  it. 
This  supersedes  the  necessity  of  proofs  on  my  part.  I  am  there- 
fore king  of  Zion  at  Munster !"  The  force  of  this  logic  is  marvel- 
lous; its  magic  wand  makes  kings  and  apostles  start  up  like 
mushrooms ! 

There  is  no  evading  this  demand  It  is  most  reasonable;  apos- 
tolical claims  must  be  supported  by  apostolical  proofs.  Let  the 
public  functionaries  of  the  society,  therefore,  produce  the  evi- 
dence of  their  commission  from  the  court  of  heaven.  Do  not 
suppose  that  ancient  miracles  will  bear  out  the  claims  of  modera 
aposdes ;  do  not  take  refuge  in  telling  us  that  if  this  demand  be 

took  occasion,  frequently,  to  give  the  fcqnisite  proofs  by  the  most  stupen- 
dous miracles.  "  Sinfjulareni  signi  in  pvophetis  judicaudis  rationeiii  ha- 
beri  discimus,  &c."  Seldcn  De  Synod.  Lib.  iii.  cap.  6.  Spencer  on  Vulgar 
Prophecies,  p.  60. 

•   Apol.  Prop.  X.  sect.  12. 

f  But^K's  Pii^t.  p.  176,  Snake,  &c.  p.  54,  92 

X  Apol,  Prop.  X.  sect.  12. 


On  the  Ministry.  189 

just,  the  first  Reformers  ought  also  to  have  been  called  on  for 
their  miracles.  The  cases  are  different ;  they  brought  no  new 
claims  on  our  faith ;  they  came  with  no  new  revelations ;  they 
claimed  no  apostolical  honours :  they  appealed  to  the  scriptures, 
and  the  correspondence  of  their  doctrines  and  practice  to  "  the 
law  and  testimony,"  was  the  best  evidence  of  their  call  to  the 
ministry.  Do  not  tell  us  that  you  discern  spirits;  we  ask  the 
proofs  of  this  high  gift:  do  not  tell  us  that  one  inspired  preacher 
bears  his  testimony  to  another.  Whence  are  we  to  learn  that 
the  witness  is  himself  inspired  ?  A  third  revelation  is  necessary 
to  confirm  the  second :  there  is^io  end  of  this  species  of  argument. 
There  was  a  proof  beyond  this  in  primitive  times : — and  a  proof 
beyond  which  no  appeal  could  be  carried.  This  was  "  prophecy 
and  miracles."  If  you  are  apostles  let  us  have  the  proof  which 
the  holy  apostles  never  declined.  Let  us  witness  predictions 
and  miraculous  powers ;  tell  us  not  of  the  predictions  of  Fox. 
The  oracle  of  Apollo  gave  ambiguous  responses  which  were  easi- 
ly interpreted  after  the  event  fell  out.  Do  not  leii  us  that  some 
illiterate  Friends  corrected  translations  from  the  learned  lan- 
guages. The  thing  wants  proof;  and  if  proved,  it  will  only  shovr 
that  a  modern  demoniac  can  equal  ihe  ancient  demoniac  in  speak- 
ing foreign  tongues  !* 

Upon  the  whole,  these  modern  apostles  want  the  "  powers  and 
miracles"  which  were  essential  to  the  office  of  the  holy  apostles. 
They  have  nothing  to  bear  out  their  ghostly  claims :  they  have 
not  a  solitary  evidence  of  their  "  divine  mission."  On  their  own 
principles,  they  have  no  true  elder,  and  no  true  preacher  in  their 
society.  We  do,  therefore,  denounce,  and  every  honest  Friend 
must,  with  us,  denounce  the  unsupported  claims  of  these  men 
over  them,  as  the  sickly  dreams  of  enthusiasts,  and  the  gainful 
craft  of  impostors ! 

•  See  the  note  C-  in  the  Appendix  on  Oracles,  &c. 


CHAPTER  ly. 

ON  THE  MAINTENANCE  OF  THE  MINISTRY. 


Paul. 


The  society  condemns,  in  terms  unusually  severe,  the  minis- 
try, who  take  a  remuneration  for  their  services.  In  their  new 
nomenclature,  they  have  no  other  title  for  them  than  hirelings  ;'* 
and  the  "  hireling'''  has  been  the  favourite  subject  of  invective 
in  the  public  assembly  and  in  the  domestic  circle.  The  theme 
has  inspired  ideas  into  brainless  insipidity :  it  has  roused  luke- 
warmness  into  activity,  and  dullness  into  passionate  sensibility. 
It  has  exhausted  the  loquacity  of  the  female  orator,  and  blown 
the  fire  of  the  zealot  into  fury  ;*  and  the  sons  of  Mammon,  the 
while,  like  '■^fat  contented  ignorance^'  have  smiled  on  their  labours, 
and  lauded  the  system  that  spares  the  gold. 

We  have  no  right,  as  we  have  assuredly  no  inclination,  to  in- 
terfere with  the  internal  regulations  of  the  society.  We  have 
simply  to  say,  that  as  their  orators  have  not  the  requisite  talents 
for  the  ministry,  nor  a  call  to  it ;  as  they  perform  no  stated  pas- 
toral services,  we  have  to  render  them  the  praise  of  doing  a  strict 
act  of  justice,  in  declining  a  stated  support  to  their  ministers. 
They  merit  nothing  ;  hence,  they  justly  receive  nothing.  The 
case  is  different  with  the  true  ministry ;  and  Barclay,!  whose  good 
sense  would  not  allow  him  to  deny  it,  has  admitted  the  divine 
force  of  those  laws  to  which  we  appeal  in  support  of  these  claims. 
for  clerical  maintenance.    *'  Ld  the  elders  that  rule  well,  be  counted 

*  Penn,  one  of  their  politest  writers,  and  one  who  knew  what  the  term 
charity  meant,  does  not  allow  a  " /iriest"  or  "  dinsenting  mmister"  to  be 
saved.  "  j^gai7ist  them"  said  he,  "  the  boiling  "vengfance  of  an  irritated 
God  is  ready  to  be  poured  out."  See  his  "  Guide  Mist."  p.  18,  A.  D. 
1668,  and"  Quak.  a  new  Nick."  p.  165.  There  are  other  passages  which 
I  cannot  venture  to  set  down.  See  his  "Serious  Apology,"  p.  156 — 
Evan's  "  Narrative"  laments  this  outrage  to  charitv. 

t  Prop.  X.  sect.  28,  p>  04".. 


On  the  Maintenance  of  the  Ministry,  191 

worthy  of  double  honour .^^  especially  they  who  labour  in  word  and  doc- 
trine :  For  the  scripture  says,  thou  shall  not  muzzle  the  ox  that  tread- 
eth  out  the  corn  ,•  and  the  labourer  is  worthy  of  his  hire.''''  "  The  Lord 
hath  ordained  that  they  who  preach  the  gospel,  should  live  of  the  gos* 

pel:'] 

To  all  these  plain  precepts,  the  society  opposes  their  exposi- 
tion of  one  text.  "  Freely  ye  have  received,  freely  gbe."|  "  That 
is,  the  gospel  is  freely  given  to  you ;  accept  of  no  pay  in  return." 
This  objection  %vill  vanish  when  we  bring  the  whole  passage  into 
view.  "  Heal  all  diseases,  raise  the  dead,  cast  out  devils  ;  freely  yt 
have  received,  freely  give,'*''  Our  Lord  uttered  this  in  reference  t© 
miraculous  powers  only.  The  disciples  had  given  no  reward  for 
them ;  they  must  exercise  them  freely  on  all.  They  must  not, 
like  Simon  Magus,  seek  gain  from  a  display  of  miracles.§  But 
when  he  speaks  of  their  support  in  the  ministry,  as  he  does  in  the 
following  verses,  he  says  Provide  neither  gold  nor  silver,  nor  clothes.''^ 
If  there  be  any  obscurity  in  this,  let  it  be  explained  by  precepts 
delivered  at  a  later  period.  "  The  labourer  is  worthy  of  his  re- 
ward:''  "  The  Lord  has  ordained  that  they  who  preach  the  gospel 
should  live  of  the  gospel:^  If  this  precept '"'' freely  give'''  did  prohi- 
bit the  taking  of  support  in  any  form,  it  would  prohibit  the  Qua- 
ker prophet  from  taking  food  and  raiment.  Their  own  exposi- 
tion, therefore,  militates  even  against  their  tenet  and  general 
practice  in  this  matter.  "  For  greater  or  less  do  not  affect  thfe 
argument." 

The  declamation  of  the  society,  against  the  temporal  support 
of  the  christian  ministry,  betrays  the  marked  spirit  of  the  sect. 
Judging  all  men  to  have  a  fraternal  sympathy  with  them  on  the 
comparative  value  of  gold  and  learning,  they  make  a  feeling  appeal. 
They  besiege  the  selfish  principle ;  they  summon  to  their  aid  the 
innate  love  of  money  ;  they  make  a  dexterous  and  novel  use  of 
those  great  principles  in  human  nature,  that  nothing  is  closer  to  a 
man''s  heart  than  his  purse  ;  that  it  is  to  the  great  mob — "  the  one 
thing  needful ;"  and,  hence,  that  they  readily  yield  the  palm  of 

*  See  Schleusner  in  ti/j.*  ;  Pretium  honorarium. 

f  1  Tim.  V.  17,  and  18.  1  Cor.  ix.  11,  and  14.  and  Gal.  vi.  6 

X  Matth.  X.  8, 

§  Or  take  pay  as  physicians  for  these  miraculous  cures. 


492  On  the  Maintenance  of  the  Muiistri/. 

merit  to  that  system,  as  the  most  judicious  and  the  most  orthodox, 
which  costs  the  least ! 

But  whither  does  the  violent  declamation  of  the  society  ten3"1 
They  do  give  their  orators  a  support,  and  the  apologist  attvocates 
the  propriety  of  it.*  It  differs  only  in  the  extent  and  manner  of 
bestowing  it.  Our  ministry  receive  their  annual  support.  Thi» 
is  barely  sufficient,  and  often  hardly  sufficient,  to  put  it  in  thfir 
power  "  to  lead  about  a  zcife  or  sister ;"  and  to  spare  a  little  from 
domestic  uses  for  the  calls  of  charity  ;  and,  for  obvious  reasons, 
it  is  paid  in  current  money. 

Their  preachers  have  no  salary,  but  they  receive  their  remu- 
nerations. It  is  not  claimed  as  a  debt.  There  is  not  and  there 
cannot  be  a  pastoral  relation  existing  between  the  people  and 
those  who  are  moved  by  fortuitous  impulses.  There  can  be, 
therefore,  no  regular  claims.  "  Tli^y  receive  what  is  necessary  and 
convenient.'^  That  docs  not  mean  gold  or  silver.  Paj^ment  in 
this  form  would  make  them  "  hirelings.^^  The  phrase  is  explained 
by  their  casuists  to  mean  that  which  individuals  can  spare  from 
a  luxurious  table  and  a  well  furnished  wardrobe.  The  gold  is 
saved  consistently  with  the  strictest  scruples  of  conscience  ! 
What  the  inspired  receive  is  in  the  form  of  alms.  He  receives  a 
coat  when  a  rich  man  condescends  to  give  one.  It  may  be  new. 
It  may  be  thrown  off  his  patron's  shoulders.  It  may  be  line.  It 
may  be  coarse.  He  has  noiight  to  say.  It  is  an  alms.  Some- 
times he  is  blessed  with  beef  and  pudding.  He  is  grateful. 
Sometimes  with  a  loaf  and  cresses.  It  is  altogether  as  charity 
opens  her  resources.  He  sits  down  and  munches  his  crust — 
thanldul  that  his  office  affords  him  "  a  bit  of  bread."  When  he 
discloses  to  the  assembly  the  divine  impulse  on  him  to  itinerate, 
a  grand  consultation  is  heid.|  Who  shall  furnish  the  carriages  ? 
who  the  horses  ?  who  the  travelling  expenses  ?  who  shall  be  pur- 

*  Apology  Prop.  x.  sect.  28.  That  affectation  of  alarm,  displaved  by 
the  body  ot  Friends  in  the  sta  e  of  M..inc%  in  1821,  when  tliey  implored 
the  Legislature  not  to  exempt  from  t.ixat)on  any  of  their  ministers,  was 
a  mere  fanfaronade,  but  it  was  pfayed  off  with  a  dainty  grace  on  the 
whoie  ! 

t  Barclay. 

4:  When  tlie  prophet  is  moved  to  go  to  foreig-i  parts,  he  draws  on  the 
public  treasury.  When  an  eminent  preacher  went  from  Pennsylvania  o 
Britain,  some  years  ago,  on  a  missionary  expedition,  his  wallet  was  not, 


On  the  Maintenance  of  the  Ministry.  193 

veyor  ?*  "  But  might  he  not  just  as  well  have  the  amount  in 
specie  ?  Let  him  have  only  the  prime  cost.  You  will  save  your 
bodily  trouble/'  No,  verily,  he  shall  not  have  money.  The 
world  shall  never  have  reason  to  call  the  prophet  "  an  hireling.'^ 
Proh  tempora !  proh  mores ! 

But  these  things  are  given  to  their  orators  in  consideration  of 
services.  "  Greater  and  less  seems  not  to  affect  the  argument.'* 
And  it  is  no  matter  whether  payment  be  made  in  money,  in 
traffic  or  in  laboui-.  It  is  still  a  payment.  Their  preachers  are, 
therefore,  on  their  own  definitions,  "  /lire/mgs."  And,  unhappy 
men  !  they  are  subjected  to  numberless  privations,  and  the  curses 
©f  a  disgusting  dependence.  But  their  motto  is  from  the  an- 
cients "  Vivere  convenienter  naturae."  There  was  a  happy 
piixture  of.wisdom  and  prudence  in  requiring  the  ministry  to  be 
illiterate.  Strangers  to  the  sciences,  they  pled  their  way  through 
life  by  help  of  their  hereditary  ideas,  which  are  gained  without 
expense,  and  retained  without  mental  exertions.  They  are  stran- 
gers to  the  exalted  sentiments  and  delicate  sensibility  of  the 
learned  and  polished  mind.  They  can  submit  to  privations  and 
dependence  which  would  break  the  heart  of  the  learned  and  re- 
fined. They  are  borne  aloft,  amid  their  labours  and  sulTerings, 
by  the  proud  consciousness  of  inspirations,  and  the  caresses, 
which  the  socie-ty  lavish,  instead  of  gold,  on  their  prophets. 
What  toils  and  privations  will  not  a  rude  unlettered  mind  submit 
to  ;  what  enterprises  will  it  not  hazard,  when  it  deems  itself  the 
favourite  of  heaven,  and  admitted  into  its  secrets  ?  when  the  ho- 
sannahs  of  partizans  dissipate  the  languors  of  fatigue,  and  the 
despondency  of  melancholy  !  Fanaticism  urges  it  on.  Life,  and 
toils,  and  speeches  are  at  the  service  of  applauders.  But  the 
brilliant  rays  of  science,  and  the  holy  light  of  religion,  once 
poured  on  the  gloomy  mind — oh  !  how  soon  would  they  scatter 
the  delusion,  and  restore  him  to  society  a  rational  and  sober 

like  the  Cynic's,  filled  Avith  lupines,  but  with  a  lordly  weight  of  gold. 
Some  of  the  society  were  much  dissatisfied  at  his  weighty  drafts. — [Rev. 
Mr.  Clarkson  of  L.] 

•  I  speak,  of  course,  of  their  stated  and  itinerating  ministry.  I  do  not 
take  into  the  account  those  from  the  farm  or  the  counting  house  ;  who 
*'  toith  fair  round  belly  with  good  capon  lined,"  and  with  heads  full  of 
pounds,  shillings  and  v'ence,  come  to  teach  their  carnal  neighbours  tem- 
perance and  disinterestedness ! 

28 


194  On  the  Ma i n te n anca  of  th e  Mi n islrij, 

minded  christian  !  A  Mohammed,  and  a  Fox,  and  a  Naylor  would 
have  been  cured  by  these,  had  it  pleased  the^Deity  to  bend  on 
their  hearts  their  plastic  energies  ! 

This  spirit  of  hostility  against  a  learned  ministry  will  never 
extend  its  influence  beyond  the  narrow  precincts  of  the  society.*^ 
If  it  did,  how  melancholy  would  be  its  ravages !  Our  population 
would  become  as  illiterate  as  the  great  body  of  the  Friends  ;t  our 
learned  and  pious  ministry  Avould  sink  beneath  the  torrent  ot 
Gothic  ignorance.  Our  academies  and  colleges  would  be  de- 
serted ;  and  the  owl  would  scream  from  the  tottering  walls  oi 
those  edifices,  which  are  now  the  seat  of  science  and  of  religion! 

And  let  the  society  pursue  this  system  of  hostility  to  the  liberal 
education  and  the  support  of  their  orators.  It  is  producing  its 
slow,  but  certain  effects.  The  time  will  come  when  the  spirit  which 
was  sustained  by  the  fascinating  influence  of  novelty  in  an  age  of 
ignorance,  and  which  was  nursed  into  vigour  by  an  ill-advised 
persecution,  will  surely  evaporate.  The  vapour  of  Delphi  has 
been  dissipated.  Apollo  has  been  struck  dumb.  Fox — Naylor — 
Penn — Barclay — have  had  no  successor.  A  generation  not  very 
remote,  may  not  produce  a  prophet  to  mourn  over  the  desolate 

oracle.    '*  Nexfav  to  vfijfiOf  11  A«<|>v(  jMfff-Tov*  xa/  TOi/Tt  nuXivn   rev  ^picfAov.^^'^ 

This  principle  of  the  society  is,  therefore,  secretly  and  surely 
hastening  its  ruin. 

"  Ms  consili  expers  mole  ruit  sua." — Hor^ 

*  Facts  bear  me  out.  Our  ministry  in  all  the  sections  of  the  i-eformed 
churches,  are  annually  encreasing  in  a  prodigious  ratio.  The  society  is 
admitied  by  Clarkson  to  be  annually  decreasing. 

f  Clarkson  vol.  iii.  p.  168. 

X  Apollo  in  Daphne,  Lucianus  in  Pseudomanti. 


-CHAPTER  V. 


ON  FEMALE  PREACHING. 


"  Ceclunt  grammatici,  vincuntur  rhetores,  omnis 
"  Turba  tacet.  nee  causidicus,  nee  prxco  loquatur, 
"  Altera  i,ec  mulier  :  verborum  tanta  cadit  vis, 
'*  Tot  pariter  pelves,  et  tintinnabula  dicas 

"  Pulsari." Juuen.  Sat-  VI. 

"  One  would  supjjose  that  nature  had  varied  from  its  fixed  principles : 
^nd  that  in  these  days  women  were  men,  and  men  women  !" 

Strabo. 


Another  striking  feature  in  the  principles  of  the  society  is  their 
admission  of  a  feminine  priesthood,  and  a  feminine  episcopacy. 
They  actually  permit  their  females  to  preach,  and  to  superintend 
meetings  for  discipline.  The  practice  is  now  peculiar  to  the  so- 
ciety.    But  it  is  not  novel ;  nor  is  it  without  weighty  precedents. 

From  time  immemorial,  the  devotee  of  mystical  systems,  and 
of  reveJations  new  and  fresh  from  the  invisible  impulse,  have 
courted  with  unremitting  fervour  the  patronage  of  the'  sex.  And 
that  most  singular  and  most  interesting  division  of  the  species ; 
*'  the  first  in  that  which  is  wrong,  and  the  first  in  that  which  is 
good,"  have  too  readily  yielded  them  their  influence.  They 
whilom,  threw  the  veil  of  sanctity  over  the  deceptions  craft  of 
the  fane.  They  gained  credence  to  the  maudlin  reveries  of  fa- 
naticism. And  they  have  too  willingly  lent  their  aid  to  nurse 
the  monstrous  births  of  heresy.  Apollo's  oracle  at  Delphi  had 
probably  been  dumb  without  his  priestesses.  Numa  found  it 
impossible  to  support  the  weight  of  royalty,  or  to  produce  wise 
laws  for  his  subjects,  without  his  Egeria.  Simon  Magus  waSi 
aided  in  his  bold  career  by  his  Helena;  in  whom,  he  tells  us, 
there  resided  a  female  Ghost.  Valentine  employed  several  pro- 
phetesses to  give  effect  to  his  innovations.*  Montanus  was  sup- 
ported by  the  inspirations  of  Priscilla  and  Maximilla.t     A  female 

*  IrenxusAdvers.  Val.  Lib.  i,  and  Brown's  Quakerism,  p.  2i. 
.t  Spanli.  Sac.  et  Eccles.  Hist.  p.  646,  fol. 


196  On  Female  Ministers. 

zealot  held  a  high  rank  amid  the  Mystics  of  Orleans.  Eager 
multitudes  pressed  around  the  prophetesses  Hildegrand  and 
Elizabeth,  whose  fair  hands  sustained  the  banner  of  inspiration 
in  the  twelfth  century.  In  the  thirteenth  JuUana  and  Wilhelmina, 
and  the  sisters  of  the  Free  Spirit,  maugre  all  the  weaknesses  and 
infirmities  of  fiesh,  raised  their  fame  to  the  stars.  Poretta,  the 
foremost  of  female  bishops,  made  a  figure  in  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury. The  female  Pietists  and  fair  Rosamond,  and  mother  Pc- 
dersen,  and  aunt  Guyon  were  oracles  in  the  seventeenth.  And 
there  was  Catherine  De  Sens  whose  prophecyings  broke  a  Pope's 
peace  and  heart,  and  rent  the  church  catholic  by  broils  and  fac- 
tions for  fifty-one  years.* 

The  Holy  Catholic  church  too,  though  built  on  no  less  than 
the  rock  of  St.  Peter.t  and  propped  up  by  Him  zvho  zoears  the  triji- 
ple  crown ;  and  by  priests ;  and  by  friars,  white,  black,  and  gray ; 
has  yielded  to  the  force  of  truth,  and  the  necessity  of  the  patron- 
age of  the  fair.  And  although  sworn,  on  their  legends,  to  be  in- 
sensible to  the  charms  of  the  sex,  the  Pope  and  his  ghostly  court 
have  bought  their  smiles  and  their  influence  to  their  cause.  The 
spiritual  degree  of  saintship  was  the  price  of  their  hire :  there 
was  saint  Bridget,  and  there  was  saint  Teresa,  and  there  was 
saint  Matilda,  and  a  long  list  of  names  greater  and  less,  which 
the  infallibility  of  Rome  has  blazoned  on  the  roll  of  the  ghostly 
calendar.  And  in  the  unlucky  reign  of  the  Stewarts  in  England, 
while  the  bowels  of  the  Holy  Father  piously  yearned  over  the 
lost  treasures  of  the  apostate  realm ;  while  the  measures  of  James 
VI.  had  been  long  putting  forth  their  kindly  influences  in  che- 
rishing popery,  though  at  the  same  time,  indeed,  sundry  weighty 
volumes  of  his  black  letter  writings  were  hurled  by  majesty,  at 
its  head;  while  the  opinions  of  the  reigning  monarch  Charles  I. 
and  the  maxims  of  his  co',n-t  re-animated  the  expiring  hope  that 
England  might  be  regained  ;  Rome,  judging  that  women  might 
achieve  what  men  had  tried  in  vain, commissioned  certain  female 
Jesuits,  and  bade  them  go  and  regenerate  apostate  England. 
And  it  is  iaipossihle  to  conjecture  what  might  have  been  the  ex- 

*  Spencer  on  V'ulg.  Propli.  p.  20— ^Josh.  vol.  ili.  cant.  14,  part  2,  ch.  2. 
t  The  Protestant  church  professes  to  be  built  on  the  rock  of  a^es. 
Christ. 


On  Female  Ministers,  19/^ 

traordinary  spiritual  revolution  of  that  kingdom,  under  the  irre- 
sistible influence  of  these  bewitching  Jesuits,  had  not  that  weak 
and  shuffling  Pope  Urban,  moved,  it  is  shrewdly  conjectured, 
more  by  jealousy  for  mail's  honour,  than  by  zeal  for  the  good 
old  cause,  actually  abolished  the  new  order.  Fated  kingdom  of 
England  !  how  hast  thou  to  bless  the  memory  of  Urban  and  his 
papal  edict  ?* 

But — ''  Palman  qui  meruit  ft  rat. ''"'  The  society  of  Friends  can 
produce  a  list  of  heroines  and  feminine  bishops  not  matched  in 
any  age,  by  Jews  or  Gentiles — heathens  or  christians.  From 
those  oi''''i}ie.  first  convinctment^''  through  a  long  line  of  prophetesses, 
down  to  the  "  anodic  minister  Sarah  Morris,'''t  and  the  fluent  Em- 
lyn,  and  the  eloquent  Hunt.  They  can  boast  of  a  line  of  pro- 
phetesses by  whom  all  the  ancients — aye,  and  the  moderns,  arc 
completely  thrown  into  the  shade.  They  have  had  inspn-ed 
keroines  and  orators  who  spouted  cataracts  of  eloquence  against 
"  hirelings,''''  and  against  "  steeple  houses,''^  and  against  "  carnal  or- 
dinances.^'' And,  if  we  may  credit  their  first  journalists,  they 
swept  away  all  opposition,  and  hurried  magistrates,  and  priests, 
and  people  into  one  common  medley  of  ruin!  Thej^  had  their 
Anne  Wright  who,  to  the  extraordinary  gifts  of  preaching,  added 
the  rare  courage  of  making  processions  in  sack-cloth  and  ashes 
through  the  metropolis  of  England,  and  of  Ireland;  and  who,  to 
give  effect  to  public  testimony,  stood  forth  in  her  consecrated  gar- 
ment of  sackcloth  and  the  sprinkling  of  ashes  in  the  aisle  of  the 
great  church  of  St  Patrick. J  They  have  had  their  Mary  Fisher, 
whose  zeal,  worthy  of  so  grand  an  enterprise,  prompted  her  to  a 
devout  pilgrimage  to  Adrianonle,  to  convert  the  Sultan  Mahomed 
IV.  and  the  Turkish  nation  !§  And  the  later  glory  of  the  society 
has  lighted  up  to  them  a  Harrison,  whose  spirit-stirring  zeal 

*  These  female  Jesuit*-  hnd  monasteries  in  Italy  and  Flanders.  They 
foUo-ed  the  Je.^u^c's  rul^s.  They  were  not  confined  to  the  cloister  ;  they 
weu'  abroad  and  preached.  F  ither  Gerrani  set  up  this  order  in  Eng- 
lai)d.  He  bega')  with  (wo  youn.Ef  women.  Nor  let  John  Bull  exclaim 
only  tivo  !  If  the  kingdr.m  of  Pri.m  fell  in  ruins  by  one  Helen — what 
W'-aid  two  femal'^  Jesuits  .oc  have  done  ?  Pope  Urban  VIII.  suppressed 
this  order  A.  D    1630.  Bronghton's  Diet.  vol.  ii.  p.  538. 

•j-  Evan's  N".vi  it.  Phil  d.  ,).  82. 

X  J--^.oer's  Qi,  k.  ,).  162,  Penn's  Works  vol.  ii.  p.  17,  79, 

§  Gough's  Hist,  of  the  Qjak.  vol.  i.  p.  421, 


198  On  Female  Ministers. 

made  her  aspire  to  higher  things  than  dull  domestic  concerns, 
and  to  rise  superior  to  all  the  ordinary  ties  which  unite  females 
to  husbands,  to  family,  or  to  country.  She  made  a  pilgrimage. 
for  the  benefit  of  Europe,  to  convert  her  graceless  nations!* 

Such  has  been  the  state  of  the  female  ministry  in  the  society ; 
and  what  has  been,  may  very  readily  again  be.  "  There  is  no- 
thing new  under  the  sun."  It  requires  not  the  gift  of  prescience 
to  foretell  that  the  present  facilities  held  out  by  the  society,  will 
secure  a  succession  of  conscientious  female  ministers.  Hard 
though  the  ordeal  be,  some  will  always  be  found  equally  pre- 
pared to  overcome  the  dull  propensities  which  bind  ordinary 
females  to  domestic  employment,  and  to  rid  themselves  of  the 
trammels  of  that  modesty  which  constrains  weaker  females  to 
shrink  back  fro-a  the  stare  of  man,  behind  their  fathers  and  hus- 
bands ;  and  to  throw  off  the  proud  yoke  of  man  who  lords  it  over 
them;  and  to  disdain  the  tyrannical  injunction  of  the  man  Paul, 
who,  too  severe  and  too  unaccommodating  to  females,  has 
trenched  on  woman's  sovereignty ;  and  has  verily  said  "  Females 
shall  not  teach  nor  usurp  authority  over  man.'"! 

Barclay  was  too  well  acquainted  with  the  duties  of  a  polished 
man,  and  too  happy  in  a  gifted  wife,J  to  be  silent  on  this  subject. 
Yet  he  has  said  little  ;  and  that  little  he  has  contrived  to  partake 
of  obscurity  and  indecision. § 

I  do  not  profess  to  be  able  to  give  any  satisfactory  reason  why 
he,  who  is  so  full  even  to  weariness  on  all  other  subjects,  should 
leave  this  so  abruptly,  after  thrusting  it  too  into  the  corner  of 
another  subject.     I  have  been  sometimes  induced  to  ascribe  it  to 

*  The  following  anecdote  of  this  lady,  whose  virtues  and  courage  were 
worthy  of  a  better  cause,  I  had  from  my  late  friend  James  Quin,  an  el- 
der in  Walnut  street  church,  Philadelphia.  She  presented  herself  at  the 
jjates  of  Valenciennes,  during  the  Revolutionary  struggle  in  France.  The 
governor  examined  her  passport  and  papers.  "  To  all  the  spiritually 
minded — followers  of  the  light  within.  Sec.  &c."  "  My  good  woman," 
said  he,  returiiing  her  j)a))ers,  "  you  have  mistaken  your  way.  There  is 
not  such  a  class  of  jjeings  in  V^ilenciennes." 

I  "  Paul  sfioke  tliia  in  his  own  spirit" — is  their  easy  way  of  loosing  the 
gordian  knot  of  a  hard  text.  E\-an's  "  Narrative"  shows  how  common 
this  mode  of  solution  has  become  in  Philadelphia. 

X  That  amiable  and  accomphshed  woman,  dame  Barclay,  was  an  emi- 
neiit  speaker  in  the  society,  long  after  the  learned  Barclay  had  withered 
in  his  early  grave. 

§  See  Prop.  >:.  sect.  27. 


On  Female  Ministers.  199 

his  sharp  foresight,  (almost  equal  to  a  jorophetical  spirit)  that  the 
transccndant  succession  of  female  talents  in  their  ministry  should 
always  be  fully  adequate  to  say  enough  for  themselves.  It  is 
certain  that  no  female  preacher  ever  yet  needed  to  make  the 
solemn  invocation  of  worthy  and  learned  Zachary  Boyd,  in  his 
printed  but  unpublished  version  of  Job. 

'*  There  was  a  man,  and  his  name  was  Job  ; 

"  And  he  dwelt  in  the  land  of  Uz. 
*'  And  he  had  a  s^ood  gift  of  the  gab — 

♦'  May  the  like  befal  us  !" 

To  bring  this  subject  fairly  before  my  readers,  I  shall  male 
these  preliminary  observations. 

1 .  The  whole  weight  of  the  argument,  for  female  preaching, 
jrests  on  the  assumption  that  divine  inspirations  are  vouchsafed 
to  the  societ}^,  and  that  their  females,  equally  with  their  males, 
share  in  the  supernatural  endowments ;  and  they  appeal  to  these 
words  of  Paul  as  not  only  authorizing  female  preaching,  but  di- 
recting and  regulating  their  deportment  when  uttering  their  in- 
spirations. "  Every  woman  that  prayeth  or prophesieth  with  her  head 
uncovered  dishonoureth  her  head.''''* 

2.  The  term  "  prophesy''''  has  more  than  one  signification  in  the 
sacred  volume.  These  four  select  passages  exhibit  it  in  as  many 
different  senses.  "  Jeremiah  prophesied  these  things.^''  "  Shemaiah 
has  prophesied  a  lie.''''  "  He  that  prophesieth  speaketh  to  men  to  edi- 
fication, and  exhortation,  and  comfort.^''  "  David  separated  them  la 
prophesy  with  harps,  to  give  thanks  and  praise  the  Lord.''"']  Thus,  to 
prophesy,  is — First,  to  predict  future  events.  Second,  to  utter 
pretended  revelations.  Third,  to  expound  and  declare  the  will 
of  God  already  revealed.     Fourth,  to  sing  the  praises  of  God. 

Now,  of  all  the  senses  determined  by  these  quotations,  the 
fourth  only  is  applicable  to  the  whole  assembly  of  the  church. 

Individuals  only  did  predict :  individuals  only  were  false  pro- 
phets :  individuals  only  were  expounders  of  the  truth.  But  every 
worshipper  may  be  said  to  prophesy  in  the  sense  determined  by 

*  And  yet,  contrary  to  the  very  letter  of  this  same  authority,  every  fe- 
male preacher  lays  aside  her  bonnet,  when  she  begins  to  utter  her  inspi- 
rations in  their  meetings. 

t  Jer.  XX.  1,  xxix.  31.     1  Cor.  xiv.  3.     1  Chron.  xxv. 


200  On  Female  Ministers. 

the  fourth  quotation.  Every  worshipper  docs  sing  the  praises  of 
God  :  every  VNorsnipper  does  say  anieit  to  the  prayers  offered  up 
in  the  church.  Hence,  every  worshipper,  male  and  female, 
does,  in  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  '•^ pray  and  prophcf<y.''' 

Now  a  very  important  question  arises  here.  In  what  sense  is 
the  term  prophesy  to  be  understood,  when  women  are  said  "  to 
pray  and  prophecy  f '  No  decision  can  be  made  on  this  subject, 
until  this  question  be  disposed  of.  The  Friends  have  taken  no 
notice  of  this  question :  they  have  not  even  observed  that  the 
term  is  used  in  different  senses.  Hence  the  obscurity  and  con- 
fusion of  their  writers  on  this  article. 

3.  There  are  certain  divine  precepts,  which,  in  the  most  ex- 
plicit terms,  prohibit  females  from  preaching.  "  Let  your  women 
keep  silence  in  the  churches,  for  it  is  not  permitted  to  them  to  speak.''' 
"  It  is  a  shame  for  zi-omcn  to  speak  in  the  church."'  "  Let  the  u-omen 
learn  in  silence  with  all  subjection.  But  I  suffer  not  a  woynan  to  teach, 
nor  to  usurp  authority  over  the  man,  hut  to  he  in  silence.'''* 

On  comparing  these  precepts  with  the  apostolical  directions 
quoted  in  favour  of  female  preaching,  we  perceive  a  distinction 
clearly  marked  out  by  the  highest  authority.  In  the  latter,  wo- 
men who  ''^  pray  and  prophesy^''  are  enjoined  "  to  have  their  heads 
veiled  in  token  of  subjection.'"  In  the  former,  females  are  prohi- 
bited from  teaching,  and  even  from  speaking  in  the  church. 
Thus,  females  may  "  pray  and  prophesy"  on  certain  conditions. 
But  on  no  condition  may  they  "  teach  or  speak  in  the  church.'' 
The  Spirit  of  inspiration  cannot  contradict  himself.  It  is  evi 
dent,  therefore,  that  he  speaks  of  two  distinct  things.  All  wor- 
shippers, male  and  female,  "  may  pray  and  prophesy.^''  Men  only 
may  "  teach''  in  the  church  of  God. 

4.  It  is  a  truth  which  we  readily  admit,  that  there  have  been 
proptretesses  A\ho  have  rendered  distinguished  services  to  the 
church.  The  names  of  many  are  on  record  in  the  holy  writings, 
and  the  memory  of  their  services  never  can  perish.  But  these 
were  always  raised  up  on  extraordinary  occasions,  and  for  ex- 
traordinary services.  Let  it  be  carefully  observed,  that  the 
regular  and  ordinary  teachers  of  the  Old  Testament  church 

*  1  Cor.  xiv.  14,  34,  35.     1  Tim.  ii.  11,  12. 


On  Female  Ministers.  201 

were  the  Levites ;  and  there  were  no  female  teachers  among 
them.  In  the  apostolic  age  also,  there  were  prophetesses. 
But  these  females  were  invested  with  extraordinary  offices. 
They  were  not  merely  teachers ;  they  predicted  future  events  : 
and  this  high  authority  and  commission  with  which  they  were 
clothed,  commanded  an  affectionate  and  respectful  attention  from 
the  church. 

If  any  enter  claims  to  the  succession  of  such  high  offices,  let 
us  see  also  the  succession  of  their  gifts.  Do  any  demand  our 
faith  and  obedience  as  prophetesses  now  ?  Let  us  see  the  copi- 
manding  proofs  of  their  miraculous  or  prophetical  powers?  This 
is  what  the  church  demanded  in  every  age  ;  and  this  was  unhe- 
sitatingly complied  with  by  every  true  prophet.  It  is  as  reason- 
able now  as  in  ancient  times.  Extraordinary  claims  can  rest 
only  on  extraordinary  proofs.  Ordinary  claims  are  supported 
by  common  proofs.  The  Friends  have  none  of  the  apostolic 
powers  to  display.  Their  female  prophets  can  not  work  mi- 
racles, no,  nor  predict.  There  is  one  species  of  proof  within 
their  reach,  and  we  do  rigidly  demand  that.  The  apostle 
Paul  suggests  it  in  the  close  of  his  famous  discourse  against  fe- 
male preachers.  Having  solemnly  charged  the  females,  in  the 
name  of  his  Lord,  not  to  teach  nor  speak  in  the  church,  he  adds 
these  most  memorable  words  :  "  If  any  man  think  himself  a  pro- 
phet or  spiritual,  let  him  acknozoledge  that  the  things  that  I  write  are, 
the  commandments  of  the  Lord^  Now  then,  if  these  female  preach- 
ers are  inspired  by  that  Spirit,  who  spoke  by  Paul,  I  call  on 
them  to  say  that  these  are  the  commandments  of  the  Lord  which 
he  uttered.  Those  females  who  are  inspired  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  will  devoutly  obey  the  precept;  and  shaking  off  all  the 
prejudices  of  the  sect,  and  of  their  early  education,  they  "  will 
learn  in  all  silence  and  suhynission.''''  But  those  females  who  "  will 
speak  and  teach  in  the  church,''''  have  not  only  no  evidence  to  ap- 
prove themselves  to  the  consciences  of  men,  but  they  positively 
refuse  to  obey  the  Holy  Ghost  speaking  by  Paul.  And  hence 
there  can  be  no  difficulty  in  deciding  what  spirit  has  stirred  up 
these  female  Korahs  to  this  outrageous  rebellion  against  the  di- 
vine order  of  the  house  of  God  ! 

5.  There  existed  in  the  church  in  primitive  times  the  offices 

29 


202  On  Female  Ministers. 

of  deaconesses,  and  female  presbyters.*  The  necessity  of  these 
offices  grew  out  of  the  peculiar  manners  of  some  eastern  nations. 
In  Judea  the  females  were  not  strictly  secluded  from  society; 
they  were  admitted  to  social  intercourse  in  the  presence  of  their 
parents  and  husbands;  and  hence  they  had  access  to  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel  by  the  stated  ministry.  The  case  was  very 
diflerent  with  the  females  of  the  surrounding  nations  ;  these  were 
strictly  secluded ;  the  mijiisters  of  the  gospel  had  no  access  to 
them.  Accordingly,  recourse  was  had  to  the  services  of  chris- 
tian females  of  distinguished  piety  and  rank  in  life.  These 
taught  the  secluded  females,  and  formed  their  morals. 

St.  Paul  makes  frequent  allusions  to  this  female  office.f  In 
the  following  ages  this  office  arose  to  such  a  rank  of  importance 
that  females  were  set  apart  to  it  publicly  by  the  usual  solemn 
form  of  ordination,  and  the  "  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  Preshy- 

^ery-t 

But  these  females  did  not  officiate  in  public ;  they  did  not 

teach  men.  They  exercised  their  function  in  the  retirements  of 
the  harem,  and  among  females.  And  the  office  ceased  with  the 
Custom  and  usage  which  created  it.  It  never  existed,  by  apos- 
tolical authority,  in  any  country  where  females  were  not  con- 
fined to  the  harem.  Hence  this  office  cannot  be  adduced  as  a 
precedent  to  establish  a  public  female  ministry  in  any  country. 
It  cannot  be  adduced  as  a  precedent  in  any  western  nation,  in 
our  times. 

If  the  eastern  manners  were,  by  some  miraculous  revolution 
of  morals  and  customs,  to  prevail  amongst  us,  and  deprive  us  of 
the  sweetest  charms  of  society,  the  presence  of  the  fair  sex,  by 
driving  them  into  the  harem,  the  church  would  then  most  cer- 
tainly institute  a  female  ministry  for  their  salvation.  But,  even 
this  would  be  yielded  on  this  essential  condition.  The  female 
ministry  must  discharge  its  offices  in  the  harem — andin  the  harem 
only — where  no  man — not  even  a  saint,  durst  enter,  or  look,  were 
it  even  to  save  a  woman's  soul ! 

j-  Iti  'i;n  •  iJisi'e  to  the  Philippians  he  names  too  distinguished  females 
who  "  laboured  luU/i  him  in  the  Lord."  Ch.  iv.  3. 

X  This  is  evident  fro  n  the  second  canon  of  the  council  of  Laodicea, 
quoted  by  Gi'otius  in  Pol.  Synop.  in  Rom.  xvi.  I, 


On  Female  Ministers.  203 

b".  It  is  also  admitted  that  in  certain  circumstances  females 
must  become  preachers.  They  may  be  thrown  on  a  heathen 
shore;  they  ma}'-  be  carried  captives  among  a  savage  people. 
It  is  unquestionably  their  duty  in  such  cases,  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ  to  their  fellow  men.  Such  a  thing  has  been  done, 
and  it  has  been  stamped  with  the  approbation  of  Heaven.  The 
conversion  of  the  Iberians  was  begun  by  a  captive  lady.  By 
her  pious  instructions  the  Queen  of  the  country  was  converted  to 
the  christian  faith:  their  united  labours  brought  the  king  over; 
and  in  process  of  time  the  leading  men  and  the  body  of  the  peo- 
ple embraced  Christianity.*  It  is  in  such  circumstances  as  these 
only,  that  the  early  doctors  of  the  Reformed  churches  have  ad- 
mitted a  female  ministry  to  be  possible,  and  even  needful.t 

These  preliminary  observations  being  made,  we  are  now  en- 
abled to  separate  from  the  question  all  irrevalent  matter.  The 
question  is  this.  Ought  females,  in  the  existing  circumstances  of 
the  church,  to  be  admitted  into  the  holy  ministry,  or  to  discharge 
any  pastoral  duty  ? 

Since  the  system  of  revelation  is  completed ;  and  no  alterations 
Avill  ever  be  made  in  it ;  since,  as  the  wiser  Friends  do  admit, 
none  of  their  prophets  pretend  to  reveal  truths  unknown  before ; 
since  there  is  now  no  necessity  for  the  divine  inspirations  which 
guided  the  prophet  of  old;  and  since  there  is  no  evidence  that 
revelations  are  vouchsafed  to  the  Friends  ;|  we  reject  the  proof- 
less claims  of  the  female  preacher  as  arrogant  and  insufferable. 
And  we  hold  the  religious  impulses  by  which  they  profess  to  be 
guided  as  the  fraudful  art  of  imposture;  or  at  best,  the  wild  re^ 
veries  of  fanaticism! 

We  cannot  rank  the  female  preacher  by  the  side  of  the  pro- 
phetesses who  were  sent  by  inspiration.  They  do  not  teach  the 
isarae  doctrine ;  they  do  not  produce  their  testimony.     We  can- 

*  Ruffin.  Lib.  x.  cap.  ii.  Turret,  torn.  iii.  p.  247. 

f  Luther,  Calvin,  Turretine,  and  others  have  distinctly  admitted  this. 
Barclay  in  quoting  Luther  as  favouring  their  female  ministry,  (Apol. 
Prop.  X.  sect.  9,  ad  fin.)  has  done  the  Reformer  a  gross  injury,  which  the 
society,  as  honest  men,  ought  to  repair.  Luther  alluded  to  particular 
cases,  similar  to  what  is  quoted  in  the  text.  Barclay  has  applied  to  gen- 
eral and  ordinary  cases,  what  Luther  expressed  as  to  particular  and  ex- 
traordinary cases. 

t  See  Partii.  ch.  1. 


20^  On  Female  Ministers. 

not  class  tlieni  with  the  presbyters  and  deaconesses  who  taught 
secluded  females.  They  come  unblushingly  before  the  public, 
and  teach  grave  men  !  They  are  not  content  to  become  teachers 
of  the  heathen,  when  thrown  on  their  wild  shores  ;  they  thrust 
themselves  into  the  crowded  assemblies  of  our  populous  cities ; 
they  announce  themselves  to  the  public  by  a  gazette,  or  a  hand- 
bill extraordinary;  and  preach  under  the  very  eye  of  learning 
and  piety !  They  refuse  to  confine  prophecy  to  the  singing  of 
praise  in  a  psalm.  Their  defective  system  has  even  ceased  to 
acknowledge  practically  this  species  of  prophecy. 

Where  then,  shall  we  class  this  anomalous  and  singular  spe- 
cies? They  belong  to  nothing  purely  modern.  They  resemble 
those  females,  who,  in  days  of  yore,  broke  through  good  order, 
and  the  laws  of  heaven  ;  usurped  the  prerogatives  of  men  ;  and 
fired  by  wild  fanaticism,  poured  forth  their  unmerciful  rhapso- 
dies, in  measures  more  than  human,  and  in  cant  utterly  inimita- 
ble !  Women  that  set  law  and  discipline,  and  offices  ecclesiastical, 
at  defiance.  Women,  w  hom  riot  even  St.  Paul — no,  nor  even  the 
whole  college  of  the  apostles,  could  reduce  to  silence  !  Alas !  then, 
for  us!  what  can  we  do  against  the  thunder-storm? 

The  precept  which  prohibits  the  female  from  speaking  and 
teaching  in  the  church  is  a  divine  precept.  And  what  claims  our 
attention,  none  of  the  reasons  brought  to  enforce  it  are  taken 
from  the  condition  of  individuals,  or  of  nations  which  might 
change.  They  are  all  taken  from  the  moral  fitness  of  things. 
First :  "  It  is  a  shame  for  women  to  speak  in  the  church.^''  It  is  in- 
consistent with  modesty — that  amiable  virtue,  and  loveliest  or- 
nament in  the  female  character.  Second:  It  is  the  special  law 
of  God  recorded  in  the  sacred  volume,  and  engraven  on  every 
virtuous  female's  heart,  that  woman  should  be  in  subjection  to 
man,  as  her  superior.  And,  as  teaching  in  public  is  an  act  of 
authority  over  them  who  are  taught,  female  preaching  is  prohi- 
bited on  the  ground  that "  to  teach  in  the  church,''''  is  "  to  usurp  au- 
thority over  the  man.'''* 

These  divine  precepts  are  so  pointed  against  this  innovation, 
that  they  have  galfed  the  society  to  a  degree  which  they  are  not 
willing  to  admit.     And  every  writer  has  tried  his  ingenuity  in 

*  1  Tim.  ii.  12. 


On  Female  Ministers.  205 

turning  aside  the  galling  weapon.  Some  of  the  early,  and  in- 
deed the  best  writers  of  the  sect,  have  resorted  to  a  singular  ex- 
position of  the  precepts  which  prohibit  female  preaching.  Fox, 
Farnsworth — and  after  them  Penn  himself,  insisted  that  the  "  i«o- 
7>ia?i"  forbidden  to  teach,  is  not  actually  a  woman — it  is  not  the 
sex — it  cannot  be ;  it  is  the  wisdom  of  the  flesh,  or  man  speaking 
in  his  fleshly  spirit.  And  by  the  term  "  mari''^  in  the  discourse 
of  the  apostle,  is  meant  "  Christ^''  the  husband  of  his  people. 
Hence  carnal  wisdom,  or  man  speaking  in  his  own  spirit,  is  the 
woman  that  is  forbidden  to  speak  in  the  church.* 

If  this  novel  exposition  be  correct,  the  context  must  bear  them 
out.  Let  us  try  the  force  of  Penn's  exposition  thus.t  "  Every 
man,'''  that  is,  Christ,  '•^praying  or  prophesying  having  his  head  cover- 
ed,  dishonoureth  his  head.  But  every  woman,  "  that  is,  carnal  wis- 
dom," who  prays  or  prophesies  with  her  head  uncovered,  dishonoureth 
her  head ;  for  that  is  all  one  as  if  she,  that  is,  carnal  wisdom,  were 
shaven.''"'  Verse  9.  "  The  man,''''  that  means  Christ, "  was  not  created 
for  the  woman,''''  that  is,  for  carnal  wisdom ;  "  but  woman,''''  that  is, 
carnal  wisdom,  "  was  made  for  the  man,''''  that  is,  for  Christ!  !| 

The  following  quotation  from  the  apostolic  Constitutions,  ex- 
hibits the  sentiments  of  the  primitive  christians  on  this  subject, 
and  is  at  one  with  the  spirit  of  the  precepts  above  recited.  "  And 
let  the  women  sit  apart,  observing  silence.  We  do  not  permit  women 
to  teach  in  the  church,  but  only  to  join  in  prayer  and  listen  to  the 
preacher.  For  our  Lord  and  master  Jesus  Christ  sent  us  twelve  to 
teach  the  people  and  the  nations.  He  sent  no  females  to  preach  the 
gospel.  This  teas  not  without  design.  For  there  were  with  us  the 
mother  of  Jesus  and  her  sisters.  If  it  had  been  necessary  that  females 
should  preach,  he  himself  first  would  have  enjoined  them,  as  well  as 
ourselves,  to  teach  the  people  by  preaching.  But  if  man  be  the  head  of 
the  woman,  it  is  not  just  that  the  body  should  bear  rule  over  the  head.^''§ 

*  Penn  vol.  ii.  p.  134,  &c. 

t  1  Cor.  xi.  4,  5. 

t  This  extravagance  of  Penn  out-Origens  Origen  himself;  and  has  ab- 
solutely no  parallel,  saving  it  be  the  unique  exposition  of  Isai.  viii.  1.  By 
Gregorv  Nyss.  Oper.  Tom.  ii.  p.  135  ;  and  by  Huet.  Demonst.  Evang. 
Prop.  vii.  sect.  15.  "  Ut  uxor  dicatur  grandis  liber,  et  stylus  hominis 
earn  partem  notat,  iSi'c."  See  Ber.  De  Moore  vol.  i.  p.  124.  The  learned 
know  the  vest. 

§  "  K«i  ii  T-c/va;**?,"  k.  t.  A."  Apost.  Const.  Lib.ii.  c.  57.  Lib.iii.  cap. 
6.  and  Bern.  De  MoorPerp.  com.  in  Markii  Comp.  vol.  v.  p.  iS7. 


206  On  Female  Ministers. 

In  fine,  the  authority  assumed  by  the  female  episcopacy  in 
the  church,  is  more  unjust  and  more  tyrannical,  than  that  which 
the  female  usurps  in  the  domestic  circle,  when  she  degrades 
her  husband  and  seizes  the  reins  of  government  over  the  family. 
The  one  is  a  breach  of  civil  order;  the  other  is  a  breach  of  the 
laivs  of  God's  house.  And  there  is  a  degree  of  guilt  attached  to 
cnixies  of  this  last  kind,  which  throws  a  frightful  shade  of  aggra- 
vation and  infamy  over  them.  And  can  a  man  of  spirit  submit 
to  this  infamous  usurpation  ?  On  the  poor  hen-pecked  sufferer  wc 
bestow  our  sympathy,  as  on  a  martyr  for  the  rights  of  man.  In 
his  degradation  his  will  is  not  stained  by  any  acquiescence  in  the 
tyrannical  encroachments  of  his  help-mate.  But  the  silence  and 
the  complacent  submission  of  the  society,  to  this  public  encroach- 
ment on  the  civil  and  religious  rights  of  man,  present  the  matter 
in  a  different  point  of  light.  We  feel  not  so  much  the  yearnings 
of  sympathy  for  the  hen-pecked  martyr  struggling  occasionally 
for  his  rights.  We  feel  all  the  virtuous  indignation  of  the  man 
and  the  christian  against  men  who  have  sold  their  birth-right, 
and  yielded  up  their  powers  to  the  dominion  of  the  petticoat ! — 
Oh  the  times !  Oh  the  manners !  Can  this  age  that  has  been  en- 
riched by  every  work  of  taste;  that  has  elevated  exevy  branch 
of  science  to  such  a  proud  eminence;  that  has  produced  so  many 
men  of  learning  and  refinement;  so  many  orators  in  church  and 
in  state;  whose  labours  are  diffusing  among  all  ranks  in  society, 
the  most  correct  views  of  man's  natural  rights;  such  love  of  or- 
der, piety,  and  religion:  Can  this  age  bear  the  presumptuous 
opinions  of  them  who  would  bring  back  on  us  the  mysticism  and 
folly  of  the  dark  ages,  when  bearded  men  lislened  to  prating 
girls;  and  professors  resigned  their  chairs  todoatiug  old  women! 

We  call  on  every  man  of  science  and  friend  to  literature  in 
the  society,  to  exert  himself  in  correctino;  the  vitiated  taste  of 
men;  v-ho  even  for  their  amusement  can  listen  to  the  incoherent 
effusions  of  illiterate  females !  We  call  on  every  virtuous  and 
amiable  lady  in  the  societj^  to  use  all  her  influence  in  taking 
away  this  scandal  to  man — this  reproach  to  the  sex!  We  call  on 
every  man  of  spirit  and  independence  to  set  his  f^ice  against  this 
insult  on  his  dignity  and  prerogative;  this  outrage  to  the  laws  of 
God  and  of  nature !  And  oh !  ye  hen-pecked,  and  far  from  peace 


On  Female  Ministers.  207 

and  comfort,  gladly  would  we  aid  you  in  regaining  your  lost 
paradise,  out  of  which  your  ambitious  Eves  have  so  wantonly 
turned  you !  Make  one  effort  more,  we  beseech  you,  to  make 
them  feel  their  proper  station  in  society.  But  alas !  no — words 
will  not  do  it.  Arguments  cannot.  Distraction  can  be  restrain- 
ed only  by  force.  And  none  but  the  brutish  can  apply  force  to 
arguments,  especially  where  the  fair  are  concerned.  I  give  up 
the  case,  therefore,  as  hopeless.  Alas !  and  we  have  lived  to 
see  the  day  when  those  evils  reign  that  made  the  most  patient 
of  the  fathers  groan.  '•  Alii  discunt,  proh  pudor !  a  feminis  quod 
homines  doceant — Scribimus  indocti,  doctique  poemata  passim — 
Hanc  garrula  anus,  hanc  delirus  senex,  banc  sophista  verbosa 
praesuraunt,  lacerant,  docent,  antequan/  discaat."*  We  have 
lived  to  see  the  day  when  these  female  henomena  have  ceased 
to  excite  surprise  or  interest !  The  no\  _  Ity  is  gone ;  and  with  it 
that  burning  shame  that  was  on  the  cheeks  of  our  fathers,  when 
they  were  first  compelled  to  witness  the  intrusion  on  their  pre- 
rogative, and  on  delicacy  and  decency!  The  wonderment  of  the 
mob  has  subsided  into  a  leering  stare !  And  the  thing  is  become 
a  matter  of  perfect  indifference  to  the  orderly  and  the  polished ; 
to  the  magistrate,  to  the  pastor,  and  to  the  prelate.  Oh  ye  grave 
Roman  senators,  who  arrested  the  solemn  busmess  of  the  com- 
monwealth, in  order  to  consult  the  oracle  what  alarming  events 
the  appearance  of  a  female  in  your  forum  to  plead  her  o\\  n  cause, 
might  portend  to  the  city;t  the  stoutest  of  you  had  ^'-  stood  aghast 
with  speechless  trance''' — had  you  witnessed  what  our  eyes  behold — 
females  mounting  the  rostrum,  and  declaiming  in  the  assemblies 
of  the  people — had  you  witnessed  grave  men  and  even  prelates, 
and  even  pastors,  and  even  the  united  wisdom  of  the  people  in 
the  halls  of  the  state  and  the  congress,  sitting  down  under  th(^ 
prophecyings  of  mother  Juliana,  and  the  refreshings  of  a  petti- 
coated   preacher!    Proh   temporal    Proh  mores !J     *  *  *  *  qjj 

•  Hierony.  torn.  iii.  7. 

+  Plutarch. 

if  This  has  been  literally  exemplified  \u  the  congress,  and  in  oar  state 
lej;:slatures.  The  mother  Julianas  of  the  day  have  been  invited  to  en- 
lig.icen  our  congress,  from  the  speaker's  seat.  And  a  few  years  ago  the 
legislature  of  New  Jersey  postponed  the  business  of  the  commonwealth, 
to  h;i  down  under  the  "divine  refreshments"  of  a  reverend  mother  De- 
borah, who  ©tcupied  the  speaker's  s-jat  with  infinite  grace .' 


208  On  Female  Ministers. 

pope  Gregory  XI.  groaned  forth  the  lugubrious  words  in  his  last 

hours ''^  Ah!  let  no  man  listen  after  me,  to  the prophecyings 

of  a  woman — of  a  Catharine  De  Sens  /"  Helen  fired  a  Troy  after 
ten  years  bloody  trials  and  sorrows !  This  prophetess  kindled 
a  fire  that  blazed  in  church  and  state  during  fifty-one  revolving 

"VPFIT'S  I   *  'T  •T*  *i*   "4^   't^ 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ttN  THE  DEFECTS  OF  THEIR  SYSTEM  IN  RESPECT  OF  A  MORAL  STANDARD. 


Psalm  xix.  7. — ,:>r\B  nnonn  mnw  n"'n'>  r\ny  caj  na^sfo  no'on  n>n>  n-nn 


The  sectary  and  the  polemic  often  find  themselves  in  a  situa- 
tion trying  to  the  most  stubborn  virtues.  But  no  force  of  tempta- 
tion can  be  alleged  in  extenuation  of  dishonesty  and  treachery. 
The  man  who  flatters  the  loveliness  of  truth,  at  the  moment  that 
his  hand  wields  the  poniard  of  the  ossassin,  is,  to  say  the  least, 
sunk  to  the  lowest  degree  of  literary  depravity. 

In  the  infidel  world,  the  most  noted  of  this  class  were  Herbert 
and  his  copyers,  down  to  Hobbes.  They  professed  to  venerate 
the  scriptures,  and  they  aimed  a  blow  at  their  existence.  In  the 
christian  world,  the  cardinals  Bellarmine  and  Hosius  were  their 
associates  in  rliis  crime.  Tiiese  advocoted  the  divinity  of  the 
scriptures,  but  avowed  that  the  written  word,  though  useful,  was 
not  necessary.  Nay,  the  lips  of  Hosius  asserted,  "  that  the  inte- 
rests of  the  church  had  been  better  consulted,  had  revelation  not  been 
committed  to  writing.^''* 

The  Friends  are  their  companions  in  arms,  and  rivals  in  zeal. 
They  differ  only  in  the  object  of  their  design.  The  infidel  has 
assailed  the  honour  and  dignity  of  the  holy  scriptures,  in  order 
to  exalt  to  divine  honours  the  light  of  reason ;  the  cardinals  to 
elevate  the  tradition  of  the  Fathers ;  the  Friends  the  revelations 
of  their  "  light  within.'''' 

When  Herbert!  and  Hosius  qualify  their  rude  attack  on  the 
holy  scriptures,  by  professions  of  veneration  for  their  sanctity, 
we  must  question  their  sincerity,  or  insult  our  own  understand- 
ings. The  truth  is,  they  acted  on  the  maxim  of  the  catholic 
courts,  who  worship  the  vicar  of  Christ,  but  hesitate  not  to  wage 
bloody  wars  against  the  man  and  his  court.     They  praise  the 

•  Turret.  Loc.  li.  qusest.  2.  sect.  1.  Bernh.  de  Moore,  torn.  i.  p.  128. 
t  Herb.  Relig.  Laic.  p.  28. 

30 


210  On  the  Defects  of  their  System 

sacred  scriptures,  but  it  is  only  to  prepare  the  way  for  a  system 
to  which  they  made  revelation  yield  the  honours  of  its  divinity 
and  loveliness! 

Of  the  same  nature  are  the  professions  of  veneration  which 
blazon  the  pages  of  the  early  Friends.  They  admit  the  scrip- 
tures to  be  holy  and  useful :  they  insist  that  they  ought  to  be 
read  and  believed  •'  where  they  are  known :"  that  they  are  the 
"  only  fit  outward  judge  of  controversies."* 

But  they  do  insist  that  they  are  inferior  to  their  perfect  rule 
"  the  light  within  ;"  and  it  is  in  supporting  the  proof  of  this  princi- 
pal article  of  their  creed,  that  they  have  been  carried  forth  into 
such  intemperate  sallies  of  zeal  against  the  holy  scriptures. 

The  "  scriptures,"  say  they,  "  are  the  dead  letter,'''  while  their 
"  light"  is  made  "  the  living  rule."'!  "  Ye  doat  on  the  scriptures 
without,"  said  Parnell  ^X  and  to  the  question,  may  I  not  read  the 
Bible  ?  the  oracle  gave  this  laconic  answer — "  Read  thine  own 
heart. "§  "  The  gospel  is  preached  in  every  creature  by  the  light 
of  God  in  their  consciences.'"!!  "  No  command  of  the  scriptures 
is  any  farther  binding  on  a  man,  than  as  he  finds  a  conviction  in 
his  own  conscience."!!  '•  That  which  is  spoken  from  the  spirit 
of  truth  in  any,"  (and  "  the  spirit"  and  "  the  light,"  in  their  no- 
menclature, are  synonymous  terms)  "  is  of  as  great  authority  as 
the  scriptures  ;  yea,  and  greater."**  Penn  insists  that  their  re- 
velations and  the  scriptures  are  "  of  the  same  family  ;"  but  admits 
that  the  '^scriptures  are  the  elder  brother ;"tt  and  yet  this  elder 
brother  has  but  a  meagre  honour  rendered  to  him.  For  PenE 
m;:intains  that  the  Bible  cannot  be  the  rule  of  faith  and  morals. 
*'  They  are  not  such  a  rule  as  ought  to  be  plain,  proper  and  in- 
telligible." And,  as  if  inspired  by  the  spirit  of  Bellarmine,  he 
throws  out  th^^  aost  disingenuous  insinuation  against  their  authen- 

"  Penn  vol.  ii.  j).  815,  S96.  And  the  '•  London  Epistles"  are  tiovj  pretty 
orthodox.  The  folluwip.g  is  modern.  "  We  believe  the  scriptures  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  to  he  of  divine  original ;  and  give  full  credit  to 
the  historical  facts  as  well  as  doctrines  therein  dehvered."  See  the  Qua- 
ker notes  in  the  American  edit,  of  Mosheim's  Eccles.  Hist.  vol.  iv. 

f  See  Penn  vol.  ii.  p.  66.  X  "  Christ  Exalted,"  p.  3.  §  SeeStal- 
ham.  IJ  S.  Fisher's  "-JLig^/it  of  Christ,"  sect.  20.  ^  Penn  vol.  ii.  p. 
253.  Biu-ronghs' Works,  folio,  p.  47".  *♦  Whitehead's  "  Truths  Dif." 
p.  7,  and  quoted  by  Penn,  vol.  ii.  p.  674,  and  Snake,  &c.  edit.  2,  p.  107. 
rf  Vol.  ii.  p.  331 


Jis  it  vpgavds  a  JMoral  Standard.  211 

Ticity.  He  magnifies  the  depredations  of  time,  and  the  corrup- 
tions of  translators,  and  the  ambiguities  of  different  readings,  and 
then  exclaims  with  Herbert  and  Rome — "  Behold  the  uncertain- 
ty of  my  opponent's  word  of  God."*  "  But  the  light  within," 
says  he,  "  leads  all  out  of  darkness  into  God's  marvellous  light." 
"  Wherefore,  O  Friends,  turn  in,  turn  in!  where  is  the  poison, 
there  is  the  antidote ;  where  you  want  Christ,  there  you  must  find 
him."t 

This  bold  and  licentious  freedom  of  the  primitive  Friends, 
combined  against  them  all  pious  people.  The  indignation  was 
strong  and  eifective ;  the  Friends  felt  it,  and  yielded  to  the  tem- 
pest. Some  items  were  withdrawn  ;  some  were  disowned  ;  much 
was  explained;  an  ambiguous  style  was  adopted.  Whiting  pub- 
lished a  purged  edition  of  their  chief  writers;  and  occasionally  a 
long  panegyric  on  the  scriptures  was  spoken  in  the  meeting,  or 
published  to  the  world.]: 

But  they  made  no  retreat.  Tt  was  one  of  those  deceptions 
marches  on  which  a  foe  presents  himself  to  all  appearances  mov- 
ing oif  in  cautious  and  measured  steps;  while  the  very  movement 
is  bringing  them  closer  on  their  enemy's  flank. 

It  is  impossible  to  mistake  the  proof  of  this.  Barclay  has  de-i 
voted  a  proposition§  to  prove  that  revelations  and  the  light  with- 
in form  the  grand  standard  of  faith  and  morals;  and  that  the 
scriptures  occupy  the  humble  station  of  a  "  secondary  rule ;"  and 
so  very  slender  are  the  honours  bestowed  on  this  "  secondary 
rule,"  that  the  little  which  his  theory  ascribes  to  them.,  may  posi- 
tively be  accomplished  to  as  good  purpose  by  the  approved  writ- 
ings of  the  society. 

This  will  appear  distinctly  from  a  brief  contrast  of  the  apos- 
tles' account  of  the  use  of  the  scriptures,||  with  Barclay's  account 
of  their  immediate  revelations.  1.  "All  scripture  is  given  by 
inspiration  of  God."     "  The  Friends,"  says  Barclay,  "  are  not 

*  Penn  vol.  ii.  pp.  326,  495.  See  also  the  Ancient  Edit,  of  his  Christian 
Quakei',  y)p.  8,  10.  and  Keith's  Deism  of  W.  Penn,  pp.  29,  80,  63. 

f  Penn's  Pref.  to  Fox's  Journ.  Phil.  Edit.  p.  57. 

i  See  Penn's  Reply  to  the  Bishop  of  Cork,  and  Sewel  vol.  ii.  p.  472, 
Phil.  Edit,  and  Bar.  Apol.  Pi'op.  iii.  sect.  1,  c^c. 

§  Prop.  ii.  of  his  Apol. 

)|  In  2  Tim.  iii.  and  16. 


SIS  On  the  Defects  of  their  System 

only  inspired,  but  they  have  the  spirit  for  their  original  and  prin- 
cipal rule."*  2.  "  The  scriptures  are  profitable  I'or  doctrines." 
Barclay  says,  "  their  revelations  are  the  only  sure  way  to  attain 
the  saving  knowledge  of  God."t  3.  "  The  scriptures  are  given 
for  reproofs."  Barclay's  revelations  of  the  "  Light"  do,  by  their 
evidence,  force  the  well-disposed  mind  to  assent,  and  irresistibly 
move  it  to  what  is  right.j  4.  "  The  scriptures  are  profitable  for 
corrections."  Barclay  says  "  their  revelations  never  moved 
them  to  any  thing  amiss — never  deceived  them."§  5.  The  scrip- 
tures convey  instructions  in  righteousness."  "  The  revelations  of 
the  inward  light,"  says  Barclay,  "  are  the  only  certain  basis  of 
all  christian  faith."|l  Finally,  the  scriptures  make  the  man  of 
God  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  to  all  good  works."  "  Our 
holy  religion,"  says  Penn,  "  has  God  for  its  father,  and  victory 
for  its  ollspring."  "  We  know,"  continues  he,  that  we  are  of  God  ; 
and  those  who  oppose  our  testimony  (of  the  Light)  are  in  the 
gall  of  bitterness  and  bond  of  iniquity."1[ 

Having  thus  clearly  determined  "  the  Light"  to  be  the  perfect 
standard,  and  the  scriptures  to  be  the  "  secondary  rule,"  the 
apologist  proceeds  to  remove  the  objection,  the  full  weight  of 
which  he  felt.  "  Of  what  use  can  this  secondary  rule  be,  since 
the  light  is  a  perfect  rule?"  His  ingenuity  has  reduced  these  to 
three.**  First.  The  scriptures  give  an  historical  account  of  God's 
people,  and  of  his  providence  attending  tlicm.  1  put  it  to  the 
candour  of  every  orthodox  Quaker,  whether  any  profane  history, 
whether  in  particular  Fox's  Journal  and  Sewel's  Narrative,  have 
not  done  as  much.  Second.  "  They  give  a  prophetical  account  of 
several  things,  of  which  some  arc  past,  and  some  are  yet  to  come." 
Every  disciple  believes  that  the  Journal  and  Sewel  have  given 
an  account  of  several  prophetical  things,  of  which  (and  we  shall 
not  disturb  their  faith)  "  some  are  already  past,  and  of  which, 
verily,  some  are  yet  to  come.''tt  Third.  "  They  contain  a  full 
account  of  all  the  chief  principles  of  %he  doctrines  of  Christ." 
Every  orthodox  Quaker  has  given  full  credence  to  the  inspira- 

*  See  his  Theses,  and  Prop.  iii.  f  Prop.  ii.  sect.  3.  X  Theses. 
ii.  ^  I'rop.  ii.  sect.  13.  ||  Prop.  ii.  sect.  16.  ^  Vol.  ii.  pp.  228 
and  194.         **  See  Apol.  Tlies.  and  Prop.  iii. 

tt  Such  as  his  marvellous  propliecy  of  the  conversion  of  the  Scottish 
Nation  to  Quakerism.     "  This  is  yet  to  come." 


*ls  it  regards  a  Moral  Standard.  213 

tions  of  their  primitive  elders ;  and  have  been  verily  persuaded 
that  their  works  have  done  all  tnis.  Hence  if  they  are  only  "  a 
secondary  rule"  they  are  reduced  to  the  level  of  human  writings. 

But  will  the  christian  world  bear  this  rude  attack?  The  apolo- 
gist, no  doubt,  asked  himself  this  very  weighty  question,  and 
hence  he  comes  to  play  off  a  very  admirable  deception.  God 
forbid  that  we  should  undervalue  the  scriptures:  we  only  depress 
them  to  exalt  the  Holy  Spirit.  He,  not  the  scriptures,  is  our 
perfect  rule.*  This  violence  then,  is  piously  designed  to  bring 
honour  to  the  "Spirit."  But  the  artifice  is  too  shallow;  it  is  a 
deception  practised  on  the  use  of  the  word  "  spirit."  This  ""  spirit" 
cannot  be  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  cannot,  without  the  grossest  vio- 
lation of  decency  and  common  sense,  be  called  "  the  rule."  No 
man  ever  made  the  law  and  the  legislator  the  same  thing;  no 
man  ever  said  that  the  legislator  is  the  rule  of  our  civil  duties. 
Hence  if  there  be  a  single  grain  of  meaning  in  Barclay's  words, 
he  means  to  say  that  the  "  light  within,"  or  their  revelations,  which 
they  believe  to  be  from  the  Holy  Spirit,  are  the  only  perfect 
rule.t 

On  these  deistical  principles  of  even  the  moderate  Barclay,  it 
needs  not  be  any  matter  of  surprise,  should  we  find  the  leaders 
of  the  society  denying  the  necessity  of  having  revelation  com- 
mitted to  writing.  ""  From  a  prophet,''^  says  Philo  the  Jew,  "  no- 
thing is  hid.  He  has  an  intdhctual  sun  in  him.''''  Men  so  highly 
endowed  certainly  need  not  the  humble  aid  of  written  revelations. 
Pennington,  one  of  their  doctrinal  writers,  has  frankly  admitted^ 
this.  ••'  As  for  us  called  Quakers,  we  should  have  knozvn  our  religion 
as  well  as  we  do,  if  no  scripture  had  been  written.'^^l  And  the  uni- 
form practice  of  the  society  gives  a  definite  exposition  of  their 
sentiments.  The  Bible  is  never  read  in  their  meetings  for  wor- 
ship; and  this  is  not  to  be  classed  under  the  mild  name  of  an 
omission.  The  practice  grows  out  of  a  first  principle  ;  it  is  bound 
up  in  the  existence  of  the  "society.  Place  a  Bible  in  the  hands 
of  their  preachers.  Let  them  speak  "  according  to  the  law  and, 
the  testimony,''^  and  they  would  exalt  the  scriptures  above  their 

*  S'-e  his  Prop.  iii.  and  sect.  2. 

t  Their  writers  make  " /?M/i/j-a/'/on.v"  and  the  "  sfiirit"  ihe  same.  See 
ch.  vii.  sect.  2  following,  and  Penn  vol.  ii.  p.  6/,  ikv.. 

X  See  his  Tract  called  "  Some  things  rtlating  to  religion,-'  p.  7. 


214  On  the  Defects  of  their  System 

"Light/'  Their  revelations  would  cease ;  their  li^ht  would  be 
obscured;  their  glorj  would  depart.  Hence  the  zeal  with  which 
they  have  opposed  the  introduction  of  a  Bible  into  their  places 
of  worship.  When  "  an  ancient  and  grave  Quaker"  brought  his 
Bible  into  Grace  Church  street  meeting,  nnd  had  nctually  com- 
menced reading  it,  it  was  taken  from  him,  and  himself  thrust 
forth.*  And,  as  far  as  1  can  discover,  no  attempt  has  been  made 
since  that  to  introduce  it.  And  when  Keith  left  their  commu- 
nion and  introduced  a  Bible  into  his  meeting,  the  society  consid- 
ered '•  this  sign  of  his  returning  to  the  priest's  worship"  as  the 
closing  proof  of  his  irrecoverable  apostacy.t 

Since  then,  the  society  has  adopted  "  the  Light"  as  the  perfect 
standard  of  faith  and  morals,  it  is  but  reasonable  to  expect  that 
their  sentiments  on  this  article  should  be  clear  and  consistent. 
Any  thing  like  contradiction,  or  ambiguitj",  or  even  obscurity, 
must  be  fatal  to  their  system.  It  must  render  the  whole  uncer- 
tain, defective,  and  worse  than  useless.  But  there  never  was  an 
article  in  any  system,  in  which  so  much  confusiai;  and  contra- 
diction have  existed,  as  on  that  of  the  "  light  v/ithin."  The  in- 
coherent lemmata  of  Mohammed's  Koran  strung  together  like 
bird's  eggs,  arc  consistency''  itself,  compared  to  this. 

The  following  extracts  exhibit  a  fair  specimen  and  proof  of 
this.  "  This  light,"  says  Fox,|  "  i.9  not  the  nabiral  light  ,•"  "  it  is 
not  the  consciencc.^^  "  I'he  light  u-ilhin  is  hut  one,  and  that  light  is 
Christy  "  Christ  is  not  distinct  from  the  saints.^''  "  The  light  ?V 
distinct  from  the  soul,''''  says  Fulier.§  "  ^,'/  Ms  light  tee  mean  no 
other  divine  principle  than  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  ar  the  grace  of  God,'' 
"  It  is,'"'  saj'S  another,i|  "  the  saviour  and  redeemer  of  him  that  lo'.'Hh 
it."**  •■'  Christ  cvithin  is  magi's  true  light  and  guide. ^^  '•  The  Spirit 
of  Christ  in  man  is  the  true  light  and  guide.''''^  "  The  light  of  the 
»o?-J,-' says  Naylor,**  '■  isGod^s  love  to  the  worhV  "  lite  princi- 
ple in  you,''"'  saj's  Bishop,tt  "  is  ofGnd  ,•  the  measure  of  him  in  you.'''' 

*  In  16S1,  thcauthor  of  the  "Snake,"  &c..  published  this  uncontradicted 
fact  shortly  after  it  took  place.  See  "  Snake,"  &c.  Edit.  2.  p.  101. 

t  "Snake,  &c."  p.  148,  Et'it.  1  and  3d. 

X  See  his  Great  Myst.  p.  209,  201,  207,  and  his  epistL-  "  On  the  way 
to  the  Kingdom,  p.  4,  (1674.)  §  Reply  to  Bnyce,  pp.  60  and  21. 
II  Burroughs'Warning,  p.  14.  Stilham.  p.  53.  ^  Foster's  guide  to  the 
blind  p.  7,  9,  and  Penn  ii  p.  489.  •*  "Door  opened,  p.  2,  3,  &c. 
+t  Vind.  of  Quak.  Qiier.  285. 


^s  it  regards  a  Moral  Standard.  215 

^  By  the  seed  we  mean  Christ. ^^  "  The  light  within^''  says  "White- 
head,* "  is  divine  and  uncreated ;  it  is  the  divine  essence  itself.  It 
must  be  God.  To  deny  tJtis  is  to  deny  his  omnipresence.'^''  "  It  is  an 
eternal  light,'^  says  Fox,  junior.!  "  It  made  all  of  one  blood ;  it  up- 
holds all  things.^' 

Let  us  next  examine  the  pages  of  Penn.  "  Christ  in  his  own 
essence  is  the  light  of  the  intellectnal  wortd.^^X  "  The  light  and  spirit 
are  one,  though  two  names.^^§  "  The  liglit  is  eternal,  holy,  and  om- 
nipresent /?g/i/."||  "  Though  every  measure  of  this  light  is  not  the 
entire  eternal  being,  yet  zee  are  bold  to  assert  that  it  is  no  other  than 
God  the  fulness  of  light.^^  In  the  course  of  his  discussion  it  be- 
comes in  his  hands,  "  the  word  of  God,  the  true  Christ,  the  wisdom, 
the  anointing,  the  gift  of  C  od."  "  //  is  the  same  that  was  in  tliat  body 
that  was  an  offering  for  sin."  "  It  was  a  manifestation  in  the  soul  of 
Christ,  the  word  of  God,  the  Lord  from  heaven ,  a  quickening  spirit.''''^ 
"  This  principle  of  light  is  the  gift  f  God  through  Jesus  Christ  to 
man."**  "  The  spirit  of  Christ  within  is  his  voice  withinJ"^^  "  The 
light  that  Cometh  from  God  is  God  ;  for  God  is  light. "\X  We  never 
said  that  the  light  within  is  the  only  Lord  and  Saviour  and  very  Gorl."§§ 
'•  This  light  is  not  the  Most  Higli  God,  hut  a  manifestation  from  him." 
He  next  proceeds  to  talk  of  "  God  measuring  forth  himself  in  in- 
ward discoveries. "WW  On  the  whole  "  this  seed  or  Christ  within," 
saj^s  Penn,  is  something  that  needs  redemption,  "  we  assert  the  re- 
demption of  the  seed  :  For  the  light  and  life  that  has  been  smm  in 
many,  is  loaded  with  sin  and  pressed  down."^^  And  lastly,  it  is 
man's  "pmts  instinct  which  prompts  him,  <^c.^''***  And  is  equally  in 
the  Pagan  and  Christian.'t'tX 

But,  finally,  will  the  learned  Barclay  setde  the  dispute;  or 
shed  a  beam  of  light  through  this  chaos?  "The  light  within," 
says  he,  "  is  not  the  human  soul ;  it  is  the  seed,  the  word,  the 
grace,  the  spirit  of  God.     It  is  the  Christ  within,  the  vehiclej||  of 

*  See  his  «  Dipper  plunged,"  p.  13,  and  his  "  Div.  Light,"  p.  22,  23, 
Fuller  against  Boyce  p.  63.  Penn  quotes  and  defends  these  sentiments, 
■vol.  ii.  p.  672.  f  See  tlie  tract  in  his  works,  (publ.  1665)  entitled 
"  Words  of  the  true  and  eternal  Light."  :f  Vol.  ii.  p.  857.  §  Chris- 
tian Qaak.part  1,  append,  p.  151.  []  "  Reas.  against  Railing,"  p.  151, 
Art.  21.  1  Vol  ii.  p.  502,  506,  **  Vol.  ii.  p.  8S5.  -j-f  Vol.  ii.  p. 
SOO.         XX  "^'ol-  i'    P-  672.         §§  Vol.  ii.  p.  232,  and  780  i||  Vol.  ii. 

p.  580.         11   Vol.  ii.  p.  520  •♦*  Vol.  ii.  p.  714.         fit  Vol.  ii.  p- 

244,i!45,  and  463.         ±tt  "  Vrhimhnv  Dei"  origl.  .Edit.  Lnt. 


216  On  the  Defects  of  their  System 

God,  the  spiritual  body  of  Christ.  "  It  is  that  in  which  God  and 
Christ  are  as  wrapt  up."*  "  It  is  not  the  essence  of  God  pre- 
cisely taken.  It  is  a  real  substance,  a  spiritual,  heavenly,  and 
invisible  principle."     "  This  substance  or  seed,  or  spiritual  body 

of  Christ was  as  really  united  to  the  word  as  his  outward 

body  was."  "  Christ  in  us  is  not  a  third  spiritual  nature  distinct 
from  that  which  is  in  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  who  was  crucified 
according  to  the  flesh  at  Jerusalem.  For  the  same  that  is  in  us, 
was  and  is  in  him.  In  him  was  the  fountain  ;  we  have  the  stream." 
"  The  seed  being  in  us,  the  man  Christ  Jesus  is  in  us :  not  in  his 
whole  manhood,  but  according  to  what  is  proper  to  us."t  In 
fine,  says  Sewel,  "  the  Quakers  believe  this  light  to  be  the  grace 
of  God,  &c."J 

Such  are  the  accounts  which  their  most  enlightened  writers 
have  given  of  this  fundamental  tenet.  They  are  at  antipodes 
with  each  other.  Well  might  the  venerable  bishop  of  Cork  be- 
seech Penn  to  stop  their  career  of  publishing  and  of  proselytiz- 
ing until  they  should  have  an  understanding  among  themselves, 

and  be  of  one  sentiment.§ This  light  is  not  the  natural 

light;  it  is  not  the  conscience;  it  is  not  the  soul.  It  is  a  distinct 
substance;  it  is  the  seed  ;  it  is  the  measure  of  God;  it  is  Christ; 
it  is  the  Spirit ;  it  is  the  Spirit  of  Christ ;  it  is  Christ  and  the  Spirit ; 
it  is  the  love  of  God ;  it  is  the  Saviour  of  men  ;  it  needs  redemp- 
tion itself;  it  is  not  a  creature;  it  is  divine;  it  is  omnipresent;  it 
is  eternal;  it  is  God — though  not  the  entire  Eternal  Being;  it  is 
the  essence  of  God,  say  some;  it  is  not  God,  say  others.  The 
orthodox  may  worship  it,  said  West.  Penn  said  amen !  the  so- 
ciety said  yes.  But  when  Naylor  and  a  few  desperate  characters 
tried  the  force  of  this  dogma  in  actual  practice ;  and  when  the 
religious  world  cried  out  against  the  blasphemy,  and  when  the 
misguided  judges  branded  Naylor  with  the  hot  iron  and  sent  him 
to  the  dungeon,  instead  of  putting  him  into  an  hospital,  the  so- 
ciety also  forsook  Penn's  theory,  and  pronounced  their  anathema 
over  the  fallen  victim Moreover,  it  is  the  vehicle  of  God. 

•  B".r.  Apol.  Prop.  v.  and  vi.  sect.  13. 

f  Apol.  Prop.  V.  and  vi.  and  Quak.  Confirmed,  sect.  4,  and  his  large 
works,  Lond.  1692,  and  p.  627,  Bcnuet's  Confut.  of  Quak.  p.  115. 
^  VoL  ii.  p.  5iT.         $  In  hi.s  "  Testimony,  &c."  against  Penn. 


Jls  it  regards  a  Moral  Standard.  S17 

It  is  that  in  which  God  and  Christ  are  as  wrapt  up !  It  is  his 
grace. 

What  a  tissue  of  contradictions!  what  man  or  angel — I  do  not 
say  Quaker,  can  tell  us  what  this  thing  is  ?  It  is  a  pure  anomaly ; 
it  is  an  absolute  non-descript  in  the  list  of  existences ;  it  is  a  being  ; 
it  is  not  God ;  it  is  not  angel  nor  man.  And  seriously,  it  is  not 
beast,  nor  fish,  nor  fowl,  nor  creeping  thing ;  it  is  not  a  divine 
perfection ;  it  is  not  an  angelic  nor  human  attribute.  It  is  a  being 
which  had  escaped  the  vigilant  researches  of  rabbis  and  doctors, 
and  plain  orthodox  divines — aye,  and  of  modern  philosophers 
who  have  been  carrying  the  lamp  of  discovery  into  all  the  recess- 
es of  moral  and  physical  science.  A  being  equally  removed 
above  the  eagle  eye  of  Newton,  and  the  nice  chemical  investiga- 
tions of  Sir  Humphrey  Davy.  A  being  which  had  yet,  by  its 
anomalous  light,  irradiated  the  gloomy  cloisters  of  the  mystic,  as 
it  does  now  the  bosom  of  the  Friend  !  Hence,  we  are  entitled  to 
the  conclusion,  that  the  system  of  the  Friends  is  radically  defec- 
tiv-e  in  regard  to  a  moral  standard,  or  rule  of  faith  and  manners. 
It  has  removed  the  only  perfect  rule,  and  it  has  produced  no  sub- 
stitute to  which  the  proverb  is  not  applicable.  "  Sicut  plumbea 
LesbiEB  oedificationis  regula :  ad  lapidis  enim  figaram  transmo- 
yetur — nee  manet  regula."* 

*  '''Slvrtf  TJi?  Af9-/3/«5."it.  T.  /.     Aristot,  Eth.  lib.  v.  cap,  14. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ON  THE  DEFECTS  OF  THE  RELIGIOUS  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SOCIETY  IN  POINT 
OF  DOCTRINES. 


Doctrina  eorum  pallium  est  ex  laceris  vetenim  hxresium  panniculis 
consutum." — /.  JMarkii  Orut.  2. 


An  opinion  has  gained  currency,  that  the  doctrines  of  the  so- 
ciety cannot  be  distinctly  ascertained ;  that  they  are  either  con- 
cealed, or,  from  their  peculiar  nature,  are  not  tangible  to  reason. 
That  the  world  cannot  understand  their  opinions,  is,  in  fact,  an 
early  dogma  of  the  society  itself.  And  they  have  been  anxious 
to  persuade  the  public  that  the  christian  world  can  no  more  pene- 
trate their  secret  love,  than  the  ancient  vulgar  could  the  veil  of 
the  Eleusinian  mysteries  ;  and  they  throw  down  the  same  gaunt- 
let of  defiance.     "  Procul  oh! procul  eslc  profani.^''* 

But  this  is  only  a  species  of  mse  de  guerre  played  off  for  con- 
cealment or  defence.  The  doctrines  of  the  society  can  be  dis- 
tinctly ascertained.  They  have  authors  who  were  fully  into  the 
secrets  of  the  society.  Their  writings  are  regarded  as  inspired 
oracles  by  every  orthodox  Friend ;  and  as  long  as  they  are 
Friends,  and  profess  to  be  the  followers  of  those  worthies  who 
organized  the  society,  the  volumes  of  those  elders,  and  not  the 
detached  opinions  of  individuals  in  modern  times,  must  determine 
their  orthodoxy.!  Were  they  to  condemn  the  doctrines  of  Fox, 
or  of  Penn,  or  of  Barclay,  or  of  Pennington,  or  of  Whitehead, 
they  could  no  longer  claim  the  name  of  Friends.  They  would 
surrender  the  testimony  of  their  fathers,  sealed  by  their  blood, 
and  transmitted  to  their  children,  as  a  legacy  never  to  be  parted 

•  See  Smith's  Catechism,  p.  94,  and  Penn  ii.  p.  455. 

f  The  yearly  meeting  at  Philadelphia,  in  1821,  directed  the  youth  of 
the  society  to  the  "  writings  of  their  primitive  Friends,"  to  open  their 
eyes  on  the  fallacy  and  danger  of  changeable  doctrines.  See  also  the 
strong  language  of  the  society  on  this,  in  their  Vind.  Mosh.  vol.  iv.  p. 
304,  ed.  1821. 


Oil  the  Defects  of  their  Sijstem  in  Point  of  Doctrines.  219 

with,  but  with  their  name  and  existence.  Were  they  to  admit 
that  those  writers  were,  in  a  single  instance,  in  error,  or  that 
they  made  even  a  recantation,  they  would  surrender  the  very 
principle  on  which  they  have  erected  their  system,  and  which 
distinguishes  them  from  every  other  sect.  These  writers  testi- 
fied that  they  were  guided  by  immediate  revelations ;  and  the 
society  has  given  full  credence  to  their  inspirations.  Their  mes- 
sages were  received  as  "  the  word  of  the  Lord  God"  to  the  body.*t 
From  these  writings  we  shall  produce  all  our  documents. 

But  a  difficulty  meets  us  at  the  very  threshold ;  a  difficulty, 
however,  which  arises  not  so  much  from  the  obscurity  of  these 
writers  as  from  the  want  of  consistency.  They  wrote  so  much, 
and  so  long,  and  so  fast,  that,  inspired  or  not  inspired,  certain  it 
is,  their  folios  bear  the  melancholy  proofs  of  human  frailty. 
What  is  confidently  advanced,  from  "  the  Spirit,"  in  one  folio,  is 
sometimes  flatly  denied  in  a  second  folio  by  the  same  high  au- 
thority.]: This  is  the  sin  which  greatly  besets  the  sixteen  hun- 
dred folio  pages  of  Penn.  They  are  patched  up  out  of  pieces 
composed  at  remote  periods,  of  a  long  life  spent  in  a  tempest  of 
controversy.  They  arc,  in  faet,  a  kind  of  guage  on  which  the 
growing  opinions  of  the  society  were  graduated.  They  faithfully 
mark  the  progress  of  their  principles,  inch  by  inch,  through  the 
purifying  ordeal  of  opposition,  toward  that  death-like  stillness  in 
which  they  have  slumbered  for  a  century.  Emerging  from  the 
tenebrosity  of  mysticism,  they  laboured  it  through  the  rugged 
mazes  of  Socinianism,  and  they  finally  settle  down  in  an  ambi- 
guous homogenity  with  Pelagius  and  Arminius. 

I  mention  this  particularly,  to  guard  against  an  array  of  quo- 
tations from  private  opinions,  or  from  different  parts  of  their 
works.§     And  let  the  members  of  the  society  look  to  it.     If  it 

*  Burroughs'  Epist.  to  his  Works.  Penn  vol.  ii.  186,  291,  &c.  Fox's 
Journ-  passim. 

f  Fox,  the  founder  of  the  society,  taught  his  followers  to  consider  it  in- 
sufferable heresy  to  call  the  scriptures  "  t/ie  word  of  God."  But  he  had 
110  scruples  of  canscieiice  in  calling  his  own  inspirations,  in  the  shape  of 
Kpistles,  "  the  nvord  of  the  Lord  God,"  as  he  actually  docs  four  times  in 
one  Ejiistle.     Journ.  vol.  i.  p.  357,  358,  .359.     Phil.  edit,  of  1808. 

t  The  reader  is  referred  for  proof  to  chap.  vi.  in  the  gleanings  on  the 
*'  Light,  Sec."  in  this  work. 

§  As  from  the  London  Epistles  Bvo.  e<Ut.  1806,  Bait,  which  contains 
much  orthodoxv  in  its  modern  form. 


220  On  the  Defects  of  their  System 

can,  by  fair  quotations,  be  made  out,  that  Penn  formed  his  sys- 
tem out  of  a  particlar  class  of  doctrines,  they  are  bound  in  honour 
to  uphold  his  consistency.  He  publicly  professed  to  be  led  by 
the  "  spirit  of  the  eternal  God.''''  The  society  have  admitted  his 
claims.  Hence,  no  orthodox  Quaker  can  admit  that  he  was  in 
error,  or  retracted  ought  of  what  he  had  advanced.  And  as 
their  writers,  from  Barclay  to  Henry  Juke,  are  but  copyers  of 
Penn,  and  have  not,  in  any  instance,  if  they  speak  truth,  ever 
contradicted  him,  then  his  opinions  may  be  fairly  considered 
as  the  public  opinions  of  the  body.  However,  to  do  the  subject 
justice,  I  shall  quote  from  any  of  their  approved  authors  indis- 
criminately. 

The  christian  and  learned  world  has  ever  held  that  system  to 
be  radically  defective  from  which  are  excluded  the  peculiar 
doctrines  of  the  gospel.  That  system,  therefore,  which  excludes 
from  the  list  of  its  peculiar  tenets  the  sacred  doctrine  of  the  most 
Holy  Trinity;  which  denies  the  personal  distinction  between 
Jesus  Christ  and  the  Holy  Ghost ;  which  rejects  the  real  atone- 
ment of  Jesus  Christ  the  second  person,  in  human  nature,  at  Je- 
rusalem; which  denies  the  necessity  of  the  atonement;  which  so 
far  disclaims  the  necessity  of  the  knowledge  and  the  faith  ef 
Christ's  outward  sufferings,  and  outuard  death,  and  outward  re- 
surrection, as  to  avow,  that  heathen  nations,  who  never  heard  of 
these,  have,  by  the  inward  light,  the  same  opportunities  of  sal- 
vation as  Christians  have  by  divine  revelation ;  which  admits  of 
no  other  justification  before  God  than  certain  nameless  undefin- 
able  operations  on  the  mind  by  the  inward  light,  and  no  other 
faith  than  the  bending  of  the  mind  inward  on  this  same  light — 
that  system  must  be  defective  in  the  last  degree. 

§  1.  0/"  the  Most  Holy  Tr'inity. — In  the  christian  system  this 
article  is  fundamental.  On  it  rests  the  weight  of  all  the  peculiar' 
doctrines  of  the  gospel.  It  is  brought  forward  in  the  sacred 
scriptures  with  clearness  and  proof  adequate  to  its  importance. 
There  is  one  God.  This  is  not  contested.  It  is  no  less  evident 
that  there  are,  in  the  one  Jehovah,  three  ;*  each  of  whom  is  God, 

»  Gen.  i.  25,  xi.  6,  7.  Isa.  xxziv.  16,  xlviii.  16.  Math,  iii-  16,  17. 
1  John  V.7. 


In  Point  of  Doctrines.  221 

and  is  called  God.  Thus  the  Father  is  God.  This  is  not  denied* 
The  Son  is  God.*  The  Holy  Ghost  is  God.t  But  there  is  only 
one  God.  Therefore,  in  the  unity  of  Godhead  there  are  three. 
This  is  an  awful  mystery;  but  it  is  no  contradiction.  They  are 
three  in  one  particular  mode.  They  are  one  in  another  modem 
These  three  are  persons  or  subsistences.  They  do  personal 
acts.  The  Father  begets  the  Son.  The  Son  "  is  tJie  only  begot- 
ten of  the  Father.^''  The  Spirit  "  proceeds"  from  the  Father  and 
Son.  Each  performs  sovereign,  independent,  and  divine  acts. 
The  Father  sent  the  Son ;  the  Son  came,  and  "  had  power  to  lay 
down  his  life,  and  power  to  take  it  again.''''  And  the  Spirit  "  dis- 
tributes to  each  man  severally  according  as  he  will,''''  To  each  of 
these  distinctly  are  ascribed  divine  agency,|  divine  perfectionS5§ 
and  divine  homage.||  Hence,  they  are  persons,  divine  and  dis- 
tinct, and  thus,  "  there  are  three  that  bear  record  in  heaven,  the 
Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost :  and  these  three  are\ 
one."1[ 

The  sentiments  of  the  society  on  this  article,  were,  at  first, 
neither  distinct  nor  clearly  expressed.  They  seemed  to  adopt 
the  current  language  of  the  christian  world :  they  believed,  they 
said,  according  to  the  letter  of  the  scriptures,  in  '•  the  Father, 
and  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  •,"  and  that  these  three  were  truly 
and  properly  "  one."  But  their  collisions  with  several  antago- 
nists brought  out  their  real  sentiments.  And  notwithstanding 
their  unusual  affectation  of  avoiding  every  thing  like  indecent 

prying  into  mysteries Oh !   with  what  painful  precision 

are  their  sentiments  expressed  ! 

In  their  system  the  sacred  "  three"  are  not  merely"  one  God*' 
in  the  language  of  the  church.  These  "  though  nominally  dis- 
tinguished," says  Penn,  "  arc  essentially  the  same  divine  light;"** 
there  is  no  distinction  of  persons.! f     "They  are  properly  and 

*  John  i.  1,  2,  &c.  f  Acts  v.  3,  -1.  +  John  v.  IT,  21,  23.  1  Cor. 
xii.  11.  §  Rev.  i.  8.  Psalm  cxxxix-  7.  \\  Ivlauli.  xxviii.  19.  2  Cor. 
xiii.  14. 

*\  John  V.  7,  SiC.  See  on  tliis  ai-ticle  Turfet.  and  Bern,  de  Moore  dc 
Trinit.-ite.  Dr.  Owen's  small  vol.  on  Trinity,  12mo.  Hor«  Solit.  2  vols. 
Scott's  Essays.  Sloss  on  Trinity.  Professor  Stuart  on  .\ndover's  Review 
of  Sparks's  Sermon.  Dr.  Wardlaw's  Discourses  on  the  Socin.  Controv, 
and  Dr.  Miller's  Letters  on  Unitarianism. 

*♦  Vol.  i.  p.  2^7.  tl  Fox'-s Great  Myst.  p.  Il2,  293< 


222  On  the  Defects  of  their  System 

truly  one ;  they  are  only  three  different  manifestations  or  opera- 
tions of  God.  Christ  is  the  everlasting  Father ;  and  the  Father 
may  be  said  to  have  taken  human  nature  as  well  as  Christ.* 

In  the  gloomy  hours  of  sorrow,  when,  in  addition  to  the  well- 
laid-on  corrections  of  polemics,  the  English  parliament  had  enact- 
ed severe  laws  against  blasphemy  ;t  and  a  stern  magistracy  had 
laid  their  iron  hand  on  Penn;  and  a  dark  dungeon  of  the  Tower 
had  actually  received  him  under  the  charge  of  blasphemy ;  the 
concessions  of  this  extraordinary  man  became  marvellous.  On 
a  sudden  he  became  too  orthodox  on  this  article,  for  the  followers 
of  Biddle  and  Socinus.  But  no  sooner  had  the  dungeon  disgorged 
him  after  a  meagre  explanation,;]:  than  he  proved  before  the  pub- 
lic, the  truth  of  his  assertion  made  in  the  Tower,  "  tliat  he  had 
not  budged  one  jof  from  his  early  faith.§  Hen(?e  it  is  beyond 
doubt  that  his  book  entitled  "  The  Sandy  Foundation  Shaken,'''  con- 
tains the  true  guage  of  his  faith,  and  the  faith  of  the  society  on 
this  article.!! 

The  frst  "sandy  foundation''  to  be  "  shaken"  is  the  doctrine 
of  one  God  in  three  distinct  and  separate  persons.  In  the  course 
of  his  discussion  he  writes  thus :  "  A'o  one  substance  can  have  three 
distinct  subsistences,  andpresene  its  unity.''  "  This  doctrine  of  three 
divine  persons,''-  says  he,  '•  zoill  make  three  Gods.''^  And  "  Whitehead!^ 
continues  he,  "■  to  bring  this  strange  doctrine  to  the  capacity  of  the 
people,  cmnpared  their  three  persons  to  three  apostles,  saying,  hoio  could 
three  of  them  be  one  apostle  ?'"[[  In  another  place  his  impiety  carries 
him  the  audacious  length  of  asserting  that  our  doctrine  of  the  Holy 
Trinity  is  absurd  !**  And  bolder  than  Voltaire  or  Priestlj^,  he  de- 
mands "  Whether  if  God  did  beget  a  son,  that  son  had  not  a  beginning  ? 
If  the  Holy  Ghost  proceeded  from  both,  is  he  contemporary  uith  the 

*  See  this  sentiment  in  Fox"s  Great  Mvst.  p.  246,  ancient  Edit,  and 
♦'  Snake  in  the  Grass,"  p.  121,  Edit.  2,  of  169".  f  Anno  1  of  WilHam 
and  Mary.  q:  See  his  Reply  to  the  Bishop  of  Cork,  in  vol.  ii.  folio; 
see  particularly  p.  802.  ^  See  his  "  Innoceucy  viih  open  face,"  &c. 
and  his  "  Key,  S;c." 

II  Clarkson  Port.  vol.  ii.  ch.  13,  on  Relig.  appears  utterly  ignorant  of 
even  the  existence  of  this  book — though  he  might  h.ave  quoted  it  with  per- 
fect consitittnicy.  For  Barclay  he  was  too  sagacious  an  .'ipologiKt  to  bring 
forward  to  view  the  society's  doctrine  en  this  article  !  If  the  Christ.  Ob- 
serv.  !iad  read  tliis  book  of  Penn,  would  they  have  written  that  in  their 
vol.  13  p.  11.". 

\  Penn's  Sandy  Found.  &c.  p.  11,  ancient  Edit,  of  1668,  and  Vincent's 
Refutation, p.  15—19.         **  Vol.  ii.  and  Tract  First,  p.  12. 

\ 


In  Point  of  Doctrines.  223 

son  ?•' But  my  pen  refuses  to  pollute  my  pages  with 

more Oh!  my  God!  It  is  thus  that  his  unclean  spirit 

blasphemed  against  the  "  eternal  spirit,"'  who  does  proceed  from 
the  Father  and  the  Son  !*  And  against  "  the  only  begotten  soyi  of 
God,''''  "  whose  goings  forth  have  been  of  old,  from  everlasting.^^]  And 
thus  his  philosophism  betrays  its  origin.  "  Philosophiam  Plato- 
nicam  omnium  hsereticorum  condimentum."|  Because  human 
reason — because  our  feeble  intellects  which  are  bewildered  by 
a  thousand  mysteries  of  nature — our  intellects  to  which  the  union 
of  our  souls  to  matter  in  one  person  is  an  impenetrable  mystery; 
because  these  intellects  cannot  comprehend  the  mode  of  the  ex- 
istence of  Jehovah  in  Trinity;  therefore,  with  the  vandalism  of 
Socinus,  Penn  sweeps  away  the  holiest  doctrine  from  the  chris- 
tian system,  and  with  it  all  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  gospel ! 

§  2.  Of  the  persons  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. — In  the 
volumes  of  the  Friends  the  sacred  name  of  Christ  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  seems  to  receive  the  loftiest  honours ;  and  the  lips  of 
their  speakers  utter  these  holiest  names  with  reverence.  This 
has  produced  a  favourable  impression  on  the  public  mind ;  and 
for  this  the  society  ought  to  receive  full  credit.  But  this  estab- 
lishes nothing  in  favour  of  their  orthodoxy.  Words  are  simply 
the  arbitrary  signs  of  our  ideas.  The  lips  of  Mohammed  also 
spoke  of  Jesus  Christ  with  respect  ;§  the  Jesuit  too,  and  the  Fran- 
ciscan, the  brother  of  the  scapulary ;  and  even  Conrad  the  In- 
quisitor, while  they  mumbled  over  an  unknown  mass,  pronounced 
these  sacred  names  with  solemnity.  And  it  costs  a  writer  but  a 
small  effort  to  employ  the  current  language  of  Christianity ;  while 
those  in  the  secret  can  easily  affix  their  sentiments  to  the  words 
of  their  leader. 

We  have  an  illustration  of  this  in  the  case  before  us,  painfully 
striking.  The  holiest  names  whom  all  the  christian  world  adores, 
are  sacrilegiously  imposed  upon  those  images  which  ancient 
heretics  fabricated,  and  the  labours  of  Socinus  adorned  for  wor- 
ship! 

The  society  has  always  admitted  the  divinity  of  Christ  and  of  the 

*  Heb.  ix.  14.  John  xv.  26.  Gal.  iv.  6.  f  John  i.  18,  Mic.  v.  2. 

*  Tertul.  De  Anirna.  §  Gibbon's  Decl.  and  Fall  of  the  Rom.  Emp. 

vol.  vi.  p.  251.  Phil  2  Edit. 


224  On  the  Defects  of  their  System 

Holy  Spirit.* But  how?  Why — because  the  Son  and  Spi- 
rit are  manifestations  or  operations  of  the  Godhead ;  and  what- 
ever is  of  God  must  necessarily  be  divine.  This  is  the  total 
amount  of  this  great,  this  marvellous  admission  that  these  are  di- 
vine ;  this  is  the  utmost  extent  of  the  divinity  which  the  society 
allows  them.  In  addition  to  this,  the  personal  distinction  between 
the  Son  and  the  Spirit,  is  denied  by  them  in  strong  and  positive 
terms.!  With  them  these  sacred  persons  mean  one  and  the  same 
thing.  The  following  quotations  are  the  proofs  of  these  asser- 
tions. 

Penn  conveys  his  sentiments  unblushingly  in  the  language  of 
Crellius,  whom  he  applauds.^  "  The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  power 
or  efficacy  of  God,  which  proceeds  from  God,  and  issuing  into 
man,  sanctifies  and  consecrates  them — which  power  and  eificacy 
of  God  they  were  wont  to  call  inspirations."  "We  believe  in 
one  spirit  that  proceeds  and  breathes  from  the  Father  and  Son, 
as  the  life  and  virtue  of  the  Father  and  Son ;"  "  and  he  who  has 
one  has  all,  for  these  three  are  one. "§  Pennington  and  Clarkson 
re-echo  the  same  sentinients.||  Job  Scott,  a  distinguished'modcrn 
leader,  professed  his  firm  faith  in  "  the  divinity  of  Christ,"  but 
denied  the  persons  in  the  Godhead.  He  conveys  his  sentiments 
clearly  in  these  extraordinary  words :  "  It  is  clear  to  my  mind 
that  that  one  divinity  became  actually  the  seed  of  the  woman, 
and  he  is  one  in  the  head  and  in  all  the  members. "IT 

In  the  process  of  their  refinement  by  allegory  it  is  evident  that 
the  society  has  not  only  destroyed  the  distinction  between  the 
divine  persons,  but  as  the  Bishop  of  Litchfield  has  justly  observ- 

*  H.  Tuke  and  Clavkson  in  his  Port.  vol.  ii.  228,  Edit.  2.  Is  it  suppo- 
sable  that  these  two  very  excellent  men  were  unacquainted  with  Penn's 
books  and  real  sentiments  ? — I  think  not. 

f  Yes,  though  Penn  does  say  "  the  so?i  is  distinct  from  the  Father.'"  See 
Tol.  ii.  p.  802. 

:j:  '•  1  wish,"  says  Penn,  "  that  Crellius  had  been  as  sound  and  clear  in 
all  other  points."  He  had  been  writing  Sociniauism  on  the  Trinity.  I 
am  aware  that  Penn  armed  cap-a-pee  with  the  weapons  which  Socinus 
had  laid  down,  had  entered  the  lists  against  a  Socin/an,  (the  author  of 
*«  The  Quaker's  Spirit  Tried  ;")  that  he  fought  against  these  "  Socinian 
notions,"  and  that  he  advocated  the  "  divinity  of  Christ,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  109, 
110,112.  But  their  dress  and  armour  being  changed,  Trojan  attacked 
Trojan  in  falling  Troy,  and  did  each  other  incredible  mischief  in  the  dark. 

§  Vol.  ii.  p.  67.         I  Clark.  Port.  vol.  ii.  p.  229. 

1  Rathb.  Narrat.  p.  30.  Compare  this  with  Penn's  declamation  against 
the  terms  "  person  of  Christ,"  in  vol.  ii,  p.  587. 


In  Point  of  Doctrines.  225 

ed,*  they  have  rejected  the  outward  Christ,  for  the  inward 
Christ,  whom  alone  they  seem  to  regard.  In  Christ's  human  na- 
ture, which  is  called  by  them,  indiscriminately,  "  his  person," 
and  "  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  vail,"t  there  dwelt  the  spirit  or 
light  which  is  Christ  ;|  and  the  same  Christ  who  was  without 
measure  in  the  man  Jesus,  they  make  to  be  in  all  men  in  a  cer- 
tain measure.  "  The  scriptures,"  say  they,  "  expressly  distin- 
guish between  Christ  and  the  garment  that  he  wore  ;  and  we 
can  never  call  the  bodily  garment  Christ.§  Fox  having  given 
a  detail  of  the  inward  crucifixion,  and  the  mztjart^  resurrection  of 
Christ,i|  has  added  in  as  polished  a  style  as  he  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  using  to  his  uninspired  antagonists,  "  Devils  and  repro- 
bates talk  of  him  without."  "  The  Devil,"  (he  took  great  liber-, 
ties  with  this  personage  in  his  exhibitions)  "  the  devil  is  in  thee, 
for  thou  sayest  thou  art  saved  by  the  Christ  without.^''  And  to 
crown  the  whole,  this  apostle  adds  "  If  there  be  any  other  Christ 
than  he  who  is  crucified  within.,  he  is  a  false  C/in5/."TT  But  per- 
chance this  may  have  been  uttered  in  one  of  those  unhappy  mo- 
ments which  fell  on  Fox  between  two  lucid  intervals.  No,  I  can- 
not avail  myself  of  this  supposition  to  excuse  him ;  for  Penn  ac- 
tually maintains  the  orthodoxy  of  the  passage,  while  he  throws 
his  shield  over  Fox,  and  frowns  defiance  on  every  one  who  dares 
demur.** 

Further :  they  seem  to  deny  that  the  very  human  nature  of 
Christ  in  which  he  suffered  death,  is  in  glory  in  the  heavens. 
"  Your  imagined  God  beyond  the  stars^  and  your  carnal  Christ  is 
utterly  denied.  To  say  that  Christ  is  God  and  man  in  one  person, 
is  a  ?je/"tt  Fox  disputed  against  the  assertion  "  that  the  body  of 
the  man  Christ  that  was  crucified,  is  now  in  the  presence  of  God  the 


*  In  his  "  Vindication  of  Jesus' Mir."  p.  146,  147.  f  Pennington's 
Quest,  to  Professors,  p.  25.  +  Fox's  Saul's  Errand  to  Damas.  p.  14. 
Anc.  Edit.  §  "Principles  oftheQuak.  anc.  Edit.  p.  126.  ||  "Of 

his  resurrection  we  (Quakers)  are  eye-witnesses."  Fox's  Great  Myst.  p. 
242,  and  Second  Letter  to  the  P>ishop  of  Litchfield,  p.  34.  1  Fox's 
Great  Myst.  p.  206,  250,  183,   See  "  Snake,  8cc."  p.  128,  Edit.  2. 

**  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  674,  and  490. 

•ff  See  C.  Atkinson's  terrible  book  with  a  terrible  name.  *'  The  Sword 
of  the  Lord  Drawn,"  p.  5,  anc.  Edit,  and  "Snake,"  p.  128  and  379.  Edit. 
2.  and  Whitehead's  Reply  to  the  Snake,  p.  155.  A.  D  1697.  He  admits 
the  words  as  a  fair  quotation.  See  also  Penn's  Defence  of  them.  Works, 
vol.  ii.  612. 

32 


226  On  the  Defects  of  their  System 

Father.''''  And  against  this,  "  that  Christ  is  absent  from  them  as 
touching  thejlesh.^''  And  he  gravely  maintained  that  "  those  who 
profess  a  Christ  without  and  one  within,  make  two  Christs."*  To 
the  same  purpose  are  the  words  of  Friends  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. "  Is  the  divinity  and  humanity  of  Christ  divided  ?  can  then 
his  godhead  be  present,  and  he  who  is  the  heavenly  man  he  absent?''^] 
And  Barclay,  in  defiance  of  all  the  principles  of  his  philosophy, 
goes  into  the  same  absurdity.  "  The  man  Christ  Jesus  is  in  m5," 
says  he,  "  though  not  in  his  whole  manhood,  but  according  to  that 
Tvhich  is  proper  to  us,  and  yet  without  cdl  division.^''X  And  Burroughs 
asserted  that  "  the  very  man — the  very  body — the  very  Christ  of  God 
is  within  W5."§ 

The  application  of  this  principle  has  carried  them  into  another 
extravagance.  As,  by  their  theory,  the  human  nature  of  our 
Lord  was  his  ^^ person ;''"'  and  as  Christ  was  the  "  spiriC  that  re- 
sided in  Jesus ;  and  as  the  same  "  spirit,''^  though  in  an  inferior 
measure,  is  in  each  of  them,  they  talked  of  "  Christ  manifest  in 
their  flesh."  To  support  this.  Fox  makes  the  apostle  say  that 
"Christ  was  manifested  in  his  (Paul's)  flesh  to  condemn  sin  in 
the  flesh."||  And  Penn,  full  of  the  same  matchless  ideas,  vehe- 
mently exclaims,  "  If  those  are  called  anti-Christs  Avho  denied 
his  coming  in  the  flesh,  what  must  they  be  reputed  who  as  stiffly 
disown  his  inward,  nearer,  and  more  spiritual  coming  in  the  soul ; 
which  is  the  higher  and  more  noble  knowledge  of  Christ — yea,  the  mys- 
tery hid  for  ages,  and  now  revealed  to  his  people?'"'^  This  is  the 
doctrine  sedulously  instilled  into  their  youth.  "  False  ministers 
preach  Christ  without,  and  bid  people  believe  in  him,  as  he  is  in  heaven 
above  :  but  true  ministers  preach  Christ  -within.''''  "  Is  that  within 
thee  the  only  foundation  and  principle  of  thy  religion?  Answer.  That 
of  God  in  me  is  so  ;for  7ce  knoic  that  it  is  Christ ;  and  being  Christ, 
it  must  needs  be  only  and  principal :  For  that  which  is  only  admits 
not  of  another — and  that  -which  is  principal  is  greatest  in  being.''^** 
Barclay  held  an  opinion  that  Christ  had  "  t-wo  bodies.-^     The 

•  Great  Mvst.  pp.  211,  210  and  254,  and  Second  Lett,  to  the  Bishop  of 
Litclifield,  17S3,  p.  22,  &.c.  f  "  Brief  Apol.  for  Quakers."  A.  D.  1727, 
p.  32.  t  Bar.  Works,  Lond.  1692,  p.  627.  §  Works,  p.  149,  anc. 
Edit,  and  "Snake,"  &c.  SLCt  10.  ||  Great  Myst.  p.  206.  1  Works, 
vol.  ii.  p.  780.        ♦•  Smith's  Primer  for  Quaker  Children,  p.  8,  9,  &  57. 


In  Point  of  Doctrines.  2S7 

one  was  outward  :  the  other  was  the  "  vehiculum  Dei,"  or  spirit- 
ual body,  united  to  the  word  as  really  as  his  outward  body  was."* 

I  shall  close  this  disgusting  detail  with  an  additional  proof  from 
Penn.  ''  Christ  qualified  that  body  for  his  service.  But  that 
body  did  not  constitute  Christ."  He  had  just  said,  "  that  the 
holy  person,  born  at  Nazareth^  was  the  body  in  which  Christ 
resided."  "  He  is  invisible,  and  ever  was  to  the  ungodly  world."t 
And  the  Christ  who  dwelt  in  this  body  is  the  Holy  Spirit.  "  For," 
says  he,  pressing  a  text  violently  into  his  service,  "  the  Lord  is 
that  Spirit."|:  And  "  I  will  not  leave  you  comfortless.  I  will 
come  unto  you."§  But  how  is  this  to  his  point  ?  To  the  inspired, 
every  thing  is  easy.  He  determines,  by  his  own  authority,  that 
"  the  Comforter,  to  be  sent  from  the  Father,"  is  no  other,  and 
can  be  no  other  than  Christ  in  his  "  spiritual  appearance  among 
//iem."||  And,  as  a  serious  difficulty  might  arise  in  the  minds  of 
them  who  took  the  letter  of  scripture  for  proof,  instead  of  his 
sacred  revelations,  he  makes  the  said  text  to  undergo  a  conve- 
nient alteration,  so  as  to  run  thus — "  I  will  come  a  comforter 
unto  you."lF  And  thus  he  makes  Christ  to  send  himself  from 
the  Father,  under  the  name  of  the  Spirit.** 

Finally,  let  the  reader  compare  all  this  with  the  following  so- 
lemn confession  of  the  Friends  of  the  present  day.  "  We  never 
doubted  the  truth  of  the  actual  birth,  life,  sufferings,  death,  re- 
surrection and  ascension  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ, 

*  See  his  Great  Works,  edit.  1693,  p.  306,  and  Penn  ii.  802.  f  Vol. 
ii.  pp.  816  and  415. 

X  The  terms  "■sfiirit"  and  "  Lorcl^'  are  terms  of  cofnmon  application. 
Thus  God  is  a  spirit ;  and,  as  a  sovereign,  he  is  Lord.  For  the  same  rea- 
sons Christ  is  a  "  spirit,"  and  the  Lord  ;  and  the  Holv  Ghost  is  a  spirit, 
and  the  Lord.  Thus  2  Cor.  iii.  18  tvo  Ki/fitu  nnu/Atiref  "  from  the  Lord 
the  spirit.  But  it  is  no  whei-e  said  by  divine  auihuniy,  that  Christ  is  the 
Holy  Spirit ;  or  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

§  John  xiv.  18.  ||  Vol  ii.  471,  472.  1  See  vol.  ii.  419,  428.  See 
also  Barclay  Apol.  Prop.  v.  and  vi.  and  "  Quakerism  Confirmed,"  sect.  4. 

**  The  text  "  Christ  is  in  you  excejit  ye  be  reprobates^'  2  Cor.  xiii.  5. 
has  been  quoted  in  support  of  their  "  Christ  within."  Our  Lord  had  as- 
cended into  heaven  bodily,  in  the  presence  of  his  disciples  :  and  his  hu- 
man nature  cannot  be  in  more  places  than  one  at  the  same  time.  Hence 
it  cannot  be  applied  to  him  literally.  It  is  to  be  referred  to  him  as  the 
image  and  pattern  after  which  the  christian  is  sanctified.  There  is  a 
bright  and  lovely  combination  of  graces  in  the  christian,  which  constitute 
a  fair  though  humble  resemblance  of  Christ.  This  is  the  image  of  our 
Lord  ;  and  the  name  of  Christ  is  put  on  it  to  show  its  author  and  relation. 


228  On  the  Defects  of  their  System 

as  related  by  the  evangelists,  without  reserve  or  diminution,  by 
allegorical  explanation.* 

§  3.  Of  the  Atonement. — Having  ascertained  the  sentiments  of 
the  society  respecting  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  ^ve  are  now  pre- 
pared to  understand  their  doctrine  of  the  atonement. 

Penn  has  professed  his  belief  in  the  atonement  of  Christ. 
"  We  own  remission  of  sins,  and  eternal  salvation  by  the  son  of 
God."  "  VV^e  declare  that  we  know  of  no  other  name  than  that 
of  Christ  the  mighty  God,  by  whom  atonement  and  plenteous  re- 
demption comes.'*  "  He  is  the  only  and  complete  Saviour  from 
the  pollution  and  guilt  of  sin."t  All  their  polemics  from  Barclay 
to  Clarkson,  devoutly  copy  after  the  same  faith ;  and  it  is  pre- 
sumed that  the  society  in  general,  holds  this  doctrine  in  these  very 
words.  For  when  the  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  in  his  charge  to  the 
clergy  of  his  diocese,  in  A.  D.  1813,  ranked  the  Quakers  by  the 
side  of  the  Socinians,  as  the  common  enemies  of  the  atonement, 
it  produced  a  very  considerable  sensation  in  the  society :  and 
some  came  out  against  the  Bishop's  "  error."!  Jt  is  admitted, 
then,  that  the  society  owns  the  atonement  of  Christ,  and  the  re- 
mission of  sins  by  him."'§ 

But  all  the  world  knows  that  words  and  phrases  are  one  thing, 
and  that  ideas  attached  to  them  are  another.  Here  is  another 
most  melancholy  proof  of  this.  Alas!  how  little  does  the  religious 
world  know  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Friends.  The  truth  is,  that 
notwithstanding  the  forms  of  confession  which  have  been  quoted, 
and  which  are  common  in  the  lips  of  their  speakers  ;  the  holy 
doctrine  of  the  atonement  as  delivered  in  the  Bible,  and  taught 
in  the  rules  and  canons  of  the  churches,  is  denied  in  the  most 
positive  and  unqualified  terms  by  every  orthodox  Quaker  !\\  The 
denial  is  interwoven  in  their  very  principles.  They  never  can 
believe  in  the  atonement  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  unless  they  renounce 
the  fundamental  principle  of  the  sect — that  on  which  their  exist- 
ence as  a  society  rests.     They  do  deny  the  most  Holy  Trinity, 

*  Mosh.  vol.  iv.  p.  287,  edit,  of  1821.  f  See  vol.  ii.  pp.  607,  14, 

and  617.  t  Christ.  Obsevv.  July  1814.  §  See  London  Epist.  for 

A.  D.  1732,  sect.  8.         i|  Whose  tenets  are  modelled  after  those  of  their 
ancient  elders,  Penn,  Fox,  Barclay,  8cc. 


In  Point  of  Doctrines.  229 

bj  the  denial  of  the  three  divine  persons  in  the  unity  of  Godhead ; 
thej  take  away  the  personal  distinction  between  Jesus  Christ 
and  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  oh !  their  sentiments  on  the  atone- 
ment are  dreadfully  consistent  with  these  other  opinions!* 

I  will  show  from  authentic  writings  what  atonement  they  do 
reject ;  and  what  atonement  they  really  own. 

The  following  radical  doctrine  of  the  Bible,  which  is  most 
firmly  received  by  all  the  Reformed  churches,  is  that  which 
Pennt  makes  the  "  second  sandy  foundation  tobc  shaken,''''  namely  : 
"  That  it  is  impossible  that  God  can  pardon  sin  without  a  plenary  satis- 
faction.^^X 

His  sentiments  on  divine  justice  will  be  a  fit  introduction  to 
this  subject.  "  If  God  winks  at  the  ignorant,  must  this  man  be 
so  prying?  If  the  judge  of  all  the  earth  will  not  be  strict,  ought 
he  to  turn  inquisitor  ?"§  The  Supreme  one  being  thus  represent- 
ed as  indifferent  to  the  claims  of  strict  justice,  his  reader  is  pre- 
pared for  the  development  of  his  doctrine  of  atonement. 

A  satisfaction  or  atonement,  in  the  sense  defined  by  the  Re- 
formed churches,  was  not  necessary  ;  and  it  was  not  given.  On 
the  first  position,  which  he  has  laid  down  with  a  bold  hand,  he 
reasons  from  the  case  of  debts  among  men.  "  It  is  not  called  un- 
just,"" says  he,  "  to  forgive  a  debt:'*  but  in  certain  cases  it  would 
be  a  heinous  crime.  Besides,  does  it  follow  that  because  a  debt 
may  be  set  aside,  the  infinite  claims  of  divine  justice  may  be  de- 
stroyed ?  To  set  them  aside  unanswered,  unhonoured,  would  be 
an  act  of  infinite  injustice. || 

On  the  second  position  this  is  the  substance  of  his  argument. 
"  If  Christ  satisfied  God's  justice,  he  did  it  as  God,  or  as  man,  or 
as  God  and  man;  but  he  did  it  not  as  God,  nor  as  man,  nor  as 
God  and  man: — therefore  he  has  not  satisfied  God's  justice."Tr 
He  has  pursued  this  argument  in  the  most  indecent  and  offensive 
language,  in  one  of  his  books** — a  book  which,  in  my  deliberate 
opinion,  puts  Sabellius  and  Socinus,  and  perhaps  even  Priestly 

*  Consult  Stapferi  Theol.  Polem.  vol.  iv.  cap.  15,  sect  29,  30,  &c.  on 
the  necessary  connexion  between  tluir  principles,  and  all  their  errors. 

t  In  vol.  ii.  p.  248.  X  Jo'^  xxxvi.  1>!.    Psal,  xlix.  7,  8,  9,  Is.  liii.  6. 

Heb.  ix.  22.  §  Vol.  ii.  p.  715.  ||  Si-e  Turret,  ior,  iii.  Qiust    19. 

and  B.  D.  Moore,  vol.  i.  p.  67.5,  &c.  Dr.  Owen  on  the  Justice  of  God. 

1  See  vol.  i.  p.  248.     **  Against  Clapham  in  vol.  ii.  13  of  his  Works. 


230  On  the  Defects  of  their  System 

to  the  blush  !  In  another  place*  he  has  called  in  the  aid  of  rea- 
son— aye  !  and  of  scripture,  to  demonstrate  the  doctrine  of  the 
necessity  and  reality  of  the  atonement  to  be  "  irreligious,  absurd, 
and  blasphemous !" 

These  are  equalled  only  by  the  impieties  of  Whitehead.  "  Sa- 
tisfaction zoas  not  needful.  Cannot  God  command  his  wrath  ?  cannot 
he  satisfy  and  please  himself?  This  is  to  represent  God  as  more  cruel 
than  maj?."!  Christ's  sufferings  could  not  be  any  satisfaction  to  God''s 
justice  for  our  sijis ;  for  they  were  persecutors  who  imputed  them  to 
himJ'^X  "  Nothing  hut  a  creature  suffered  ,*  he  suffered  by  sinners.^ 
It  cannot  be  that  God  punishes  our  sins  in  Christ  to  satisfy  his  jus- 
tice.^W  God  promises  pardons  on  our  repentance.'''"^  This  is  but  a 
partial  specimen  of  the  audacious  style  of  their  books  lying  be- 
fore the  public. 

On  these  principles  what  importance  or  value  can  we  attach  to 
the  death  of  Jesus  Christ?  The  leaders  felt  the  weight  of  this 
question ;  and  their  answer  has  revealed  their  marvellous  har- 
mony with  Socinus  and  Priestly.  These  taught  that  our  Lord 
"sea/ec/"  his  testimony  with  his  blood;  he  fell  a  martyr  to  the 
truth.  No  more!  And  was  this  all  the  design  of  his  mission? 
Yes !  this  system  which  breathes  a  withering  blast  on  all  our  hopes, 
admits  of  no  more !  and  Penn  admits  of  no  more !  Having  stated 
'*•  that  a  body  was  prepared  for  Christ  in  which  he  came  to  fulfil 
his  father's  will;  that  he  preached  the  promise  of  salvation  and 
remission  of  sins  through  him  to  those  who  believed;  that  for 
this  doctrine,  and  for  asserting  that  he  was  the  offspring  of  God, 
and  one  with  God,  the  Jews  crucified  him ;"  and  his  blood  "  must 
be  believed  on  as  a  '  seal'  to  ratify  and  confirm  the  glad  tidings 
of  remission  of  sin."** 

But  the  society  does  confess  "  an  atonement  by  C/ir?'si."tt  The 
following  quotations  will  explain  at  once  its  nature,  and  the  pro- 
cess by  which  it  accomplishes  their  salvation.  "  We  believe 
that  Christ  within  us  doth  offer  himself  a  living  sacrifice  to  God 
for  us,  by  which  the  wrath  of  God  is  appeased  to  us.  Is  there 
power  in  that  light  within  me  to  save  me  from  sin  ?  Yes,  all  power 

•  In  vol.  ii.  p.  530.  f  See  his  book  strangely  named  "  The  Divinity 
of  Christ,"  p.  62.  t  I^"- P- 63.  §  p.  58,  45.  ||  p.  52.         1  p. 

4.0.        •*  See  vol.  ii.  p.  281.        tt  Lo»d.  Epist.  for  A.  D.  1732,  sect.  8. 


In  Point  of  Doctrines,  231 

in  heaven  and  in  earth  is  in  it  !"*     Penn  against  Faldo  defends 
the  orthodoxy  of  this  passage.! 

In  another  place,  after  a  comment  on  the  atonement,  which 
Priestly  would  have  dictated,  and  the  Deist  will  approve,  Penn 
exclaims:  "  Is  it  not  more  suitable  to  truth  and  scripture  to  be- 
lieve that  God  was  in  Christ,  (who  is  in  us)  reconciling  man  to 
himself,  by  removing  that  sin  which  ruled  in  their  hearts ;  and 
by  his  light  giving  them  to  know  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ."]: 

Barclay  gives  a  clear  exposition  of  his  master's  views.  '■''Jesus 
Christ  himself  is  in  the  heart  of  every  man  andwomanin  the  little  in- 
corruptible seed  there.^''§  On  this  mystic  dogma  he  thus  rears  his 
wild  theory.  In  those  who  do  not  resist,  but  who  act  in  concert 
with  the  labours  of  this  seed  within,  and  do  their  best  in  this  pro- 
cess of  mystical  parturition,  "  their  Christ  will  be  brought  forth  in 
them.**  This  inward  birth  is  a  grand  era.  The  "  Christ  alive  in 
them"  works  all  his  works ;  this  is  his  righteousness.  As  this 
grows  more  and  more  vigorous  by  the  careful  nursing  of  the  sub- 
ject, it  produces  astonishing  effects.  "  It  counterbalances,  it  over- 
comes, it  roots  out  the  evil  seed  in  man ;"  and  thence  he  becomes 
really  "just  and  holy  before  God."  "  Besides  this,  every  other 
kind  of  justification  is  imaginary.''||  And  so  late  as  A.  D.  1793, 
Job  Scot!  advocates  this  frightful  mysticism.  "  There  is  no  other 
possible  way  of  salvation  but  by  that  of  a  real  conception  and  birth  of 
the  divinity  in  mar?."ir  And,  in  regard  to  faith  it  is  made  to  cor- 
respond to  this  unparalleled  mode  of  justification.  Faith  is  "  the 
aspect  which  the  soul  bends  inward  on  the  Christ  there,"  while 
"  it  follows  the  leading  of  the  internal  light."** 

In  fine,  all  the  Quaker  writers  from  George  Fox  down  to  the 
amiable  Henry  Tuke,  make  redemption  by  Christ  and  regenera- 

*  Smith's  Catechism.         f  Vol.  ii.  410,  and  645.         $  Vol.  ii.  p   14. 

§  Apology  Prop.  v.  and  vi.  p.  191,  &c.  I'hil.  edit.  1808. 

II  Bar.  Apol.  Thes.  Prop.  vii.  pp.  190, 199,  CIO,  220,  232,  &c.  and  Pen- 
nington, vol.  i.  608. 

•H  Quoted  from  Rathb.  Nar.  p.  30.  See  alboCIarkson's  Port.  vol.  ii.  p. 
viii.  sect.  2.  and  p.  l.?2,  134,  and  230. 

•*  S.  Crispp.  323.  Phil.  edit.  1787.  Sec  Pennhigton  i.  p.  600,  and  Penn. 
ii.  784.  Speaking  of  our  Justification  by  what  Christ  did  vjithout  us,  Penn 
says,  "  we  boldly  affirm  it  in  the  name' of  the  Lord,  to  he  the  dcctvine  of 
devils!"  See  his  Serious  Apol.  ch.  vi.  or  Works  vol.  ii.  p.  'Jo  and  522- 
Note, 


232  On  the  Defects  of  their  System 

tion  the  same.  What,  we  believe,  our  Lord  did  on  the  cross, 
they  believe  to  be  altogether  a  work  within  on  the  human  mind. 
This  arises  necessarily  out  of  their  belief  of  the  Christ  within. 
It  is  a  fatal  error  woven  throughout  the  whole  system  !* 

§  4.  Of  the  Resurrection  from  the  dead. — The  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  from  the  dead  is  peculiar  to  the  gospel  and  one  of 
its  fundamental  articles.  To  believe  it  is  a  peculiar  badge  of  the 
christian ;  to  deny  it  is  to  be  guilty  of  error.j  In  respect  of  the 
body  that  shall  be  raised,  all  admit  that  it  will  not  partake  of  the 
gross  nature  and  qualities  with  which  it  is  laid  in  the  grave.  On 
this  article  all  the  churches  of  Christ  have  declared  out  of  the 
holy  scriptures  their  belief  as  follows : — That  the  body  shall  un- 
dergo such  a  process  of  purification,  that  its  earthly  and  gross 
qualities  shall  be  entirely  removed ;  that  its  corruption  shall  be 
changed  into  incorruption ;  its  dishonour  into  glory ;  its  weakness 
into  power ;  its  natural  body  into  a  spiritual  body ;  its  mortality 
into  immortality  :  that  nevertheless  this  change  in  its  qualities 
shall  not  destroy  its  essential  qualities  and  nature ;  that  it  shall 
still  be  the  identical  body  which  lived  here,  and  in  which  the 
soul  resided;  that  the  holy  scriptures  do  teach  distinctly  that 
those  "  w/io  are  in  their  graves  shall  come  forth  ;  and  the  many  zvho 
sleep  in  the  dust  shall  awake.''''  That  it  was  the  identical  body  of 
our  Lord  which  was  raised  from  the  grave,  and  "  he  rose  as  the 
first  fruits  of  them  that  sleep  f'^  that  if  the  same  body  is  not  raised 
it  will  not  be  a  resurrection  but  a  creation  of  new  bodies ;  that  if 
the  same  body  be  not  raised,  the  body  which  was  bought  by  the 
blood  of  our  Lord  and  sanctified  by  the  blessed  Spirit,  and  was 
the  instrument  by  which  his  good  works  were  performed,  shall 
be  lost  in  the  dust,  and  consumed  by  the  last  flames;  and  another 
body  shall  receive  the  honours  and  the  reward  of  the  Redeemers 
purchase — though  he  is  not  its  saviour,  and  it  can  never  join  in 
the  song  of  the  redeemed  in  bliss  as  it  was  not "  redeemed  by  his 
blood ;"  that  if  the  same  body  is  not  raised,  men  do  not  receive  the 
things  in  the  hodyX  according  to  what  he  has  done  in  this  life,  al- 

•  See  Pref.  of  Fox's  Journ.  and  Henry  Take's  "  Princifdes  of  the  Qua- 
kers,'''' edit.  5,  p.  184.  Christ.  Observer,  vol.  13,  p.  110.  f  Matth. 
xxii.  29,  2  Tim.  ii.  18.  %  2  Cor.  v.  10.  The  word  doneis  an  addition 
of  the  translator  in  this  text. 


In  Point  of  Doctrines,  233 

though  inspiration  has  declared  it ;  that  if  the  same  body  be  not 
raised,  the  bodies  of  the  wicked,  the  very  instruments  of  sin,  shall 
escape  vengeance  and  sleep  in  the  dust  5  and  in  the  "  resurrection 
of  damnation"  they  shall  have  other  bodies  which  never  were 
stained  by  sin,  and  never  partook  of  guilt,  and  which  it  were  in- 
justice to  subject  to  punishment. 

The  sentiments  of  the  society  are  perfectlj'-  at  one  with  those 
of  their  masters.  "  The  body  is  the  prison  of  the  soul,''''  said  the 
Platonic  divines  ;  "  Death  is  the  escape  of  the  soul  from  it :  never 
again  shall  it  be  confned  in  it.  The  soul  after  death,  is  joined  to  its 
aeriform  body,  and  returns  into  the  essence  of  that  Being  out  of  which 
it  was  taken.'''* 

The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  held  by  the  so- 
ciety,! is,  therefore,  radically  different  from  that  of  the  Bible. 

On  this  subject  there  have  existed  two  opinions  in  the  society. 
First:  Those  whose  sj^stem  has  been  rigorously  consistent  with 
that  of  their  masters,  have  confined  their  doctrine  on  this  article 
exclusively  to  the  mystic  resurrection  within  them.;!:  These,  as 
the  zealous  disciples  of  Hymeneus  and  Philctus,§  to  whom  the 
venerable  Paul  paid  such  marked  attention, ||  have  taught  that 
"  the  resurrection  is  past  already.''' 

Second:  In  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  leaders  of 
the  society  being  driven  to  the  last  resort  by  the  polemics  of  the 
day,  came  out  with  an  avowal  of  a  resurrection  '"''from  the  grave.'''' 
But  the  value  of  the  concession  was  hardly  appreciated,  when, 
to  the  astonishment  of  the  religious  world,  they  again  came  out 
against  the  resurrection  of  the  same  body  that  was  laid  in  the 
grave.  Here  is  something  marvellous.  Here  is  a  raising  out 
of  the  grave,  and  yet  not  of  the  body  that  is  in  the  grave.  But 
the  persevering  Penn,  ever  undaunted  in  the  hour  of  fighting, 
stood  out  against  the  shafts  of  irony,  and  satire,  and  argument. 
He  threw  his  gauntlet  down  with  this  challenge:  Your  resurrec- 
tion "  is  a  conceit  that  agrees  better  with  the  Alcoran  than  with  the 
gospelJ^     The  absurdity^''  says  he, "  of  the  Popish  transuhstantiation 

*  Cicero  De  Divin.  et  consol.  oper.  p.  446.  Plat,  in  liis  Timjeus.  Tay- 
lor's Platonic  Phil.  vol.  ii.  p.  218,  and  335,  qunrto.  f  Penn  vol.  ii.  p. 
896.  X  Fox,  and  those  of  the  ''first  conviticement,"  Great  Mvst.  p. 
214,  &c.         §  2  Tim.  ii.  ver.  17,  18.         \\  1  Tim.  i.  20. 

K  Penn  vol.  ii,  p.  896.    What  is  the  gospel  in  his  opinion  r*  The  gwspel 

3.3 


234  On  the  Defects  of  their  System 

is  rather  mit-done  than  equalled  by  this  feshly  resurrection.'^  Great 
spirits  are  never  content  with  moderate  measures ;  and  this  often 
brings  men  of  ancient  times  into  contact  with  those  of  modera 
times.  Hence  by  the  same  impulse  of  zeal,  for  it  could  not  be 
a  designed  imitation,  Penn  renews  the  very  dilemma  by  which 
the  Sadducees  thought  to  entangle  our  Lord.  "  If  they  rise  so," 
he  is  speaking  of  the  "  same  bodies,''''  "  then  every  man  is  to  rise  mar- 
ried,''^ et  cetera.!  And  that  it  may  not  be  supposed  that  he  dis- 
putes merely  against  the  rising  of  the  "  gross  and  natural  body" — 
a  thing  which  no  man  advocates,  he  takes  care  to  mark  the 
very  point  against  which  his  hostility  is  directed ;  it  is  against  the 
"  identity  and  sameness  of  the  body.''''^ 

His  favourite  argument  is  "  that  bodies  compounded  out  of  this 
elementary  world,  cannot  outlive  their  own  matter ;"  and  that ''  dust 
cannot  he  eternaV As  if  the  Almighty  cannot  make  mat- 
ter as  well  as  spirit  eternal ! 

§  5.  The  second  coming  of  Christ  to  Judgment. — Whatever  may 
be  the  modern  sentiments  of  the  society  on  this  article,  and  they 
must  have  undergone,  it  is  hoped,  a  material  change,  from  the 
kindly  interchange  of  sentiment  in  their  civil  intercourse  with 
the  christian  world,  it  is  certain  that  the  primitive  Friends  de- 
nied the  second  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus  in  human  nature  to  the 
last  judgment. 

Their  system,  in  brief,  seems  to  have  been  this  :  At  death  the 
body  returns  to  its  native  dust,  never  again  to  leave  it;  the  soul 
returns  into  the  essence  of  that  being  out  of  which  it  came.  Christ 
does  not  return  to  raise  the  dead,  or  to  separate  the  righteous 

is  by  Barclay,  actually  put  within  man.  And  even  the  very  fireachers, 
■whose  '•  feet,"  the  apostle  savs  **  are  beautiful  on  the  mountains,"  and 
the  "  two  idged  sword,"  and  "  the  fire  and  the  hammer"— all,  all  are  dc- 
tuaWy  li'ii/iiu  t/ie /ft. '  Apol.  Prop.  v.  and  vi  sect.  23.  Aye!  "  and  Moses 
and  the  prophets  ixreivi/h/n  them.  "■  Fisher's  Velata."  p.  4.  No  wonder 
it  is  that  a  writer  said  of  them  "  they  carry  about  with  them  consubstan- 
tiation  in  their  bellies." 

♦  Penn  vol.  ii.  ch.  13  of  his  "Railing  against  Reason."  Against  the 
Popish  transnbstantiation,  or  that  tiie  bread  and  wine  in  the  holy  supper 
art  in  fact  changed  into  the  very  flesh  and  the  very  blood  of  Christ,  we 
have  the  evidence  of  all  our  senses.  But  in  the  "  resurrection"  there  is 
nothing  contrary  to  reason,  or  the  senses,  or  experience. 

f  Vol.  ii.  545.  compare  th\s  7nodern  with  the  ancient  Sadducee,  Matth. 
XX.  28.        X  Vol.  ii.  544,  also  Take  andClarkson  Portr.  vol.  ii.  p.  229. 


In  Point  of  Doctrines,  235 

from  the  wicked.  Little  is  written  bj  them  to  elucidate  their 
sentiments  on  this  subject;  but  that  little  is  awfully  decisive. 
Having  admitted  Christ's  first  coming  in  the  Jlesh,  they  maintain, 
with  warmth,  that  his  second  coming  was  in  the  effusion  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  at  Pentecost.  "  These  we  acknowledge/^  said  G. 
Whitehead,  "  but  of  no  other  do  we  read,^'*  "  And  those  are  like  to 
be  deceived  who  expect  this  per sohal  coming  of  Christ.'''']  And  thus 
they  placed  themselves  in  the  rank  of  the  bold  spirits  of  St.  Pe- 
ter's time,  who  demanded  'where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming  T'J 

§  6.  and  last.  Of  the  Future  State. — The  sentiments  of  the  so- 
ciety in  general,  respecting  the  future  state,  have  not  been  ex- 
actly ascertained.  Their  chief  writers  speak  in  general  terms, 
and  avoid  minute  discussion  on  this  topic.  This  much,  however, 
is  certain,  that  Burroughs,  one  of  their  inspirati,  uttered  in  his 
last  moments,  this  memorable  Platonic  sentiment,  to  which  I  have 
alluded  before :  "  Now  my  soul  and  spirit  is  centred  into  its  own 
being  with  God,  and  this  form  of  person  must  return  from  whence  it 
came."§  And  Fox  has  left  these  words  on  record,  "  that  none 
has  a  glory  and  a  heaven  but  within  them."|| 
"Sic  itur — sed  non  ad  astra." 

******  These  are  the  doctrines  of  the  society  as  exhibited 
in  their  books  lying  before  the  public.  What  a  contrast  to  the 
purity  of  the  gospel !  How  different  from  its  spirit  is  the  whole 
body  of  these  doctrines ;  and  the  prospects  held  up  by  them  to 
man  pressing  forward  to  his  final  destiny !  On  the  one  side,  the 
gospel  exhibits  the  character  of  Deity  in  its  true  light ;  combining 
in  the  infinity  of  perfection,  all  that  is  magnificent  and  glorious 
with  all  that  is  lovely  and  awful — ^^  A  just  God  and  a  Saviour.'^  It 
exhibits  the  three  distinct  and  divine  persons,  the  Father,  and 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  one  undivided  essence.  It 
spreads  before  the  wandering  and  disconsolate  sinner  the  most 
cheering  hopes  from  the  atonement  of  Christ.  It  points  out  to 
man  the  fatal  consequences  of  givuig  himself  up  to  the  guidance 

•  See  his  "  Li^ht  Within,"  p.  40.  t  See  his  "  Christ  Ascended,"  p. 
23,  and  his  "  JVature  of  Christ,''  p.  29,  and  Fuller's  "  Rr/i/y  to  12  Que- 
ries," p.  81.  X  2  Pet.  iii.  3,  4.  §  Hovvgill's  Testim.  prefixed  to  the 
Works  of  Burroughs'  foiio,  A.  D.  1673.  ||  Great  Myst.  p.  214,  old 
edit.  See  Buggs  Pict.  of  Qtiak.  p.  399,  &c.  &c. 


236  On  the  J)pfects  of  their  System 

of  his  own  heart,  or  of  any  prinriple  within  him  ;  it  woos  him 
aw^ay  from  every  false  hope,  and  directs  him  to  the  exalted  Sa- 
viour in  heaven;  it  paints  in  proper  colours  the  vanity  of  all  sub- 
lunary objects ;  it  supports  the  pilgrim  when  ready  to  sink  in 
despair  under  the  pressure  of  human  woes  ;  it  guides  him  through 
the  mazes  of  folly  by  the  pure  and  steady  light  of  truth ;  it  leads 
him  into  the  possession  of  all  that  is  virtuous  and  lovely ;  it  re- 
freshes him  from  the  living  streams  of  salvation ;  it  cheers  his 
drooping  spirit  in  the  last  fearful  conflict;  it  lights  up  with  holy 
joy  the  countenance  of  the  dying  christian,  and  throws  its  lovely 
beams  of  hope  on  the  soul  of  the  bending  mourner  as  he  conveys 
the  dead  to  the  silent  tomb;  it  carries  the  soul  of  the  sleeping 
pilgrim  to  the  bright  realms  of  glory,  and  thither  it  guarantees 
the  certain  ascension  of  the  same  body  which  he  lays  in  the 
grave;  there  to  reap  the  rich  rewards  of  the  divine  love  in  pure 
and  perpetual  bliss. 

But  on  the  other  side,  turn  your  eyes  on  these  prospects  set 
before  our  pilgrim.  There  lovely  nature  ceases  to  smile ;  a  with- 
ering blast  has  passed  over  the  face  of  the  land ;  the  herbs  have 
perished  ;  the  flowers  have  faded ;  the  forest  has  shed  its  leaves ; 
the  whirlwind  has  swept  them  away;  the  pestilence  has  walked 
in  secret,  and  spent  its  energies  on  animated  nature;  desolation 
scowls  from  his  throne  of  darkness. —  For  oh!  the  sun  has  set 
over  that  world.  His  kindly  influences  are  gone — and  gone  is 
that  divine  person  who  redeemed  by  purchase  and  by  power, 
the  trembling  pilgrim ;  and  gone  too  is  that  divine  person  who 
led  his  steps  into  the  paths  of  righteousness.  The  lamp  of  truth 
flashes  in  the  socket,  and  threatens  to  leave  him  in  the  gloom  of 
despair ;  every  object  presents  a  dreary  aspect ;  he  moves  through 
darkness  to  a  land  unknown  ;  shifting  phantoms  hover  round  him ; 
unearthly  voices  tempt  him  to  turn  inward  on  the  energies  of  his 
own  mind,  and  seek  what  is  necessary  there.  At  the  sight  of 
the  moral  chaos  within,  he  is  thrown  back  with  encreasing  sor- 
row on  what  is  without.  The  pitiless  storm  mingles  its  terrors 
with  the  ragings  of  the  mountain  stream:  the  thunders  roar;  the 
lightning's  livid  glare  reveals  the  face  of  nature  in  her  new  de- 
formities ;  the  demon  of  the  storm  mingles  his  unearthly  shrieks 
with  the  roaring  of  the  thunder,  and  lashing  the  whirlwind  into 


In  Point  of  Doctrines.  237 

fury,  he  rides  over  his  head,  and  threatens  to  "  carry  him  away  in 
a  tempest  of  the  night  P''  Return,  O  pilgrim !  from  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death  ;  return  to  the  valley  of  vision.  This  is  the  land 
of  light ;  hither  thy  God  beckons  thee  5  here  thy  Saviour  stretches 
out  his  arms  to  receive  thee  ;  here  the  Comforter  will  dry  up  thy 
tears.  And  when  the  years  of  thy  life  shall  be  numbered  he  will 
bear  thee  away  to  the  land  of  the  blessed  ;  and  the  church  will 
embalm  thy  memory  in  her  sweet  remembrance,  while  with  a 
tear  she  pronounces  "  Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord !" 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


THE  PROEM. 


The  immortal  author  of  a  Talc  in  a  Tub  has  indubitably  been 
unjust  to  brother  John  in  the  matter  of  brother  Peter's  coat.  He 
makes  the  said  John  Presbyter  to  fall  outrageously  on  Peter's 
coat,  and  despoil  it  of  every  portion  of  its  embroidery,  of  its  un- 
necessary foldings  and  loop-holes  and  buttons.  And,  moreover, 
he  makes  him,  through  the  excess  of  zeal,  to  displace  these  su- 
pernumeraries, actually  to  tear  and  rend  the  garment  in  sundry 
places.  Now  to  whatever  lengths  the  zeal  of  John  did  carry 
him — and  he  went  great  lengths  (lauded  be  his  zeal,)  in  reducing 
brother  Peters  coat  to  a  christian-like  shape  and  condition,  I 
aver,  and  I  ofter  to  prove  it,  that  the  action  which  the  aforesaid 
immortal  author  ascribes  to  brother  John,  was  in  its  literal  extent 
done  by  hrotlur  George.  John's  coat  possesses  not  only  every 
necessary  item  of  loop  and  button,  durability,  and  gracefulness, 
but  moreover,  it  is  modestly  equipped  with  a  just  apportionment 
of  embroidery ;  but  George's  violence  has  not  only  stript  off  all 
ornaments,  and  all  necessaries,  but  it  has  rent  and  mangled  it  to 
such  a  degree  that  it  has  no  earthly  resemblance  to  a  coat;  nor 
is  it  even  fit  to  cover  his  nakedness  !  The  proof  of  this  is  forth- 
coming. 

And  with  my  reader's  permission,  dropping  this  figure,  I  shall 
enter  on  the  proofs  of  the  defects  of  the  quaker  system  in 

POINT  OF  religious  INSTITUTIONS. 

§    1.    Of  the  Lord's  Day.     "n«p/  tkc  J,3/o^*c  iJ^«p«c  ii  ?r«VT«c  «»9p«-re/ 

♦vo^a^ot/e-/.— Theophilus  Antioch. — The  Quakers  reject  the  fourth 
commandment;  and  of  course  they  deny  the  morality  of  the  Sab- 
bath. With  them  all  days  are  alike  holy ;  with  them  "  every 
day  is  the  Lord's  day."  "  The  immediate  raovings  of  the  spirit 
are  not  limited  to  time  or  place  ;"*  and  they  strenuously  assert  that 
there  is  no  authority  from  scripture  making  or  declaring  the  first 
day  of  the  week  the  christian  Sabbath. 

*  Bar. 


On  the  Defects  of  their  System^  §*c.  239 

It*  is  admitted  by  all  that  a  portion  of  our  time  must  be  de- 
voted exclusively,  to  the  service  of  Almighty  God  ;  and  it  is  very 
evident  that  this  time  ought  to  be  so  fixed  and  universally  under- 
stood, that  the  christian  world  may  enter  on  its  solemn  services 
without  distraction  or  misunderstanding.  If  divine  authority  has 
not  fixed  a  day,  what  earthly  power  could  dictate  to  the  whole 
christian  world?  And  if  all  men  are  left  to  fix  their  own  time, 
what  a  scene  of  confusion  and  disorder  would  be  produced  ia 
society ! 

The  testimony  of  the  Bible  is  clear  and  definite  that  "  the  God 
of  Order''''  has  not  left  such  an  important  point  unsettled.  From 
the  beginning  "  God  blessed  the  Sabbath  day  and  sanctified  it;''''  or 
set  it  apart.  The  observance  of  this  "  rcsi"  could  not  be  design- 
ed for  the  Most  High  in  any  other  respect  than  that  it  should  be 
sacred  to  his  service.  Hence  it  was  ordained  for  man's  favour 
and  benefit. 

This  "  res/"  or  "  Sabbath''-  is  noticed  as  existing  and  actually  ob- 
served by  public  consent,  previous  to  the  publication  of  the 
fourth  commandment.!  And  in  that  precept  the  injunction  is  so 
expressed  as  to  recognise  a  former  precept  on  this  subject.  "  Re- 
member the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy." 

Now,  this  precept  is  enrolled  with  the  other  nine  which  are  ex- 
clusively moral.  And  as  it  has  a  special  reference  to  the  divine 
worship,  it  is  most  certainly  a  moral  precept.  But  even  admit- 
ting that  we  were  to  give  up  what  is  called  its  morality,  the 
weight  of  its  obligation  would  not  be  lessened  in  a  single  grain 
by  the  admission ;  far  less  would  it  thereby  be  abrogated.  It 
would  still  be  a  divine  precept ;  and  as  a  divine  precept  it  is  as 
positive  and  as  binding  as  that  which  enjoins  Baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper. 

The  keeping  of  the  Sabbath  is  an  ordinance  of  perpetual  ob- 
ligation in  the  church.  Its  existence  in  the  church  after  the  in- 
troduction of  the  christian  dispensation,  and  the  conversion  of 
the  Gentiles,  is  distinctly  foretold  by  a  prophet.|  Our  Saviour's 
discourse  assumes  it  as  a  matter  of  fact  not  to  be  questioned,  that 

*  I  have  made  a  free  use  of  President  Edwards'  Sermon  on  the  Sab- 
bath, to  illustrate  and  confirm  02ir  views  on  this  subject. 
t  Exod.  xvi.  V.  23,  26.        t  Isa.  Ivi.  6,  7,  8. 


240  On  the  Dpfects  of  their  System 

the  Sabbath  would  be  observed  as  usual  when  the  Jewish  cere- 
monies and  legal  rites  should  have  ceased.*  And  all  these  are 
predicated  on  the  most  certain  truth,  that  the  precept  "  Remem- 
ber the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy,"  stood  unrepealed — and 
should  maintain  its  authority  till  the  last  trumpet  should  sound 
the  last  note  of  time. 

The  Sabbath  has  been  changed  from  the  seventh  to  the  first 
day  of  the  week ;  or  rather  we  should  say,  it  has  probably  now 
reverted  to  that  daj'^  on  which  it  was  observed  by  Adam  and  the 
patriarchs.  It  is  certain  that  the  Sabbath  of  Adam,  though  the 
seventh  day  of  time,  was  yet  the  first  entire  day  that  he  saw,t 
And  it  is  most  natural  to  suppose — and  there  is  nothing  repug- 
nant to  it  in  scripture,  that  he  began  the  computation  of  the  days 
of  the  week  from  the  first  entire  day  that  he  beheld.  Thus  it 
may  be  fairly  said  that  the  Sabbath  became,  in  future  compu- 
tions,  the  first  day  of  the  week.  This  argument  receives  addi- 
tional strength  from  the  following  historical  facts:  When  the  de- 
scendants of  Adam  apostatized  from  the  worship  of  the  true 
God,  they  substituted  in  his  place  the  sun;  thatlu.ninary  which^ 
more  than  all  others,  strikes  the  minds  of  savage  people  with  re- 
ligious awe,  and  which,  therefore,  all  heathens  worship.  They 
carried  with  them  indeed  the  day  on  which  their  fathers  wor- 
shipped ;  but  they  worshipped  the  sun.  Hence  the  day  was  called 
the  sun's  day  in  the  languageof  their  respective  nations.:J:  Hence 
as  the  learned  Selden  has  shown,  Sunday,  the  day  observed  by 
the  patriarchs  as' their  Sabbath,  was  the  first  day  of  the  week  in 
the  nations  of  the  east,  and  is  so  still.§     Thus  the  Sabbath  of  the 

»  Mattli.  xxiv.  20. 

•{•  He  was  created  the  last  of  living  things,  after  the  morning;  of  the 
sixth  day.  Hence  the  Jewish  doctors  say  "  man  was  created  in  the  even- 
ing," i.  e.  the  beginning  *'  of  Sabbath."  Talmud.  See  VVitsius  Econ.  of 
the  Cov.  vo!.  i.  book  i.  ch.  7. 

:}:  "'H  TOO  »x<6t/ x*yo^f?i)  »M«f«."  The  day  called  Sunday.  Justin. 
Mart.  Apol.  ii.  sub  hn.  P.iiis  edit,  or  Apol.  i.  Thirlby's  edit.  p.  98.  In 
the  same  place,  J.  Martyr  makes  the  day  on  which  God  rested,  and  the 
day  on  which  our  Lord  rose,  the  s;:me,  or  first  day. 

§  field.  Jus.  Nat.  et  Gent.  lib.  iii.  c.  22.  That  the  ancient  nations  of 
the  East  computed  time  by  seven  days,  Uion  Cassius  asserts,  lib.  33.  That 
this  was  a  very  anci  JUt  custom,  Hcroaotus  declares,  lib.  2.  Josephus 
against  Appion.  ii.  ad  fin.  says  that  no  city  of  the  Greeks,  that  no  city  of 
the  Barbarians  was  ignorant  of  the  custom  of  observing  the  seventh  day 
or  portion  of  time.  See  Grotius  de  Veritatc  lib.  i.  sect.  16. 


J?i  Point  of  lieligious  Institutions.  241 

patriarchs  was  the  Sunday  of  the  pagans.  The  Jews  alone  of 
all  the  eastern  nations  seem  to  have  had  the  day  changed.  As 
God  altered  the  beginning  of  their  year,*  so  he  changed  the  day 
of  their  worship  from  the  first  to  the  seventh  day,  to  commemo- 
rate their  deliverance  on  that  day  from  Egypt.  Hence  the 
fourth  precept  viewed  as  a  moral  precept,  and  binding  on  the 
church  in  all  ages,  is  enforced  by  the  consideration  of  God  rest- 
ing on  that  day,  and  sanctifying  it.t  But  when  it  is  applied  to 
the  particular  case  of  the  Jewish  church,  that  precept  is  enforced 
by  another  consideration.  "  The  Lord  brought  thee  from  Egypt 
by  a  mighty  hand  ;  therefore  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  commanded 
thee  to  keep  this  Sahbath  day."X 

When  therefore,  Judaism  ceased,  the  seventh  day  Sabbath  na- 
turally ceased  with  it.§  And  hence,  considering  the  divine  com- 
mand that  enjoined  on  Adam  and  his  posterity,  the  keeping  of 
the  Sabbath  to  be  still  of  force,  (and  it  never  has  been  repealed 
by  God)  it  is  easy  to  see  that  on  the  abolition  of  Judaism,  the 
Sabbath  reverted  from  the  seventh  to  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
without  the  necessity  of  any  additional  command  on  the  subject.|| 

Our  first  day  Sabbath  is,  therefore,  the  same  with  the  original 
Sabbath  of  the  church  of  God,  previous  to  the  peculiarities  of 
Judaism. 

This  is  the  Sabbath  that  is  ordained  to  be  of  perpetual  obli- 
gation. The  church  observed  the  Sabbath  at  first  to  commemo- 
rate the  finishing  of  the  creation.  And  the  same  reason  still  binds 
us.  But  there  is  an  enereascd  obligation  laid  on  us  by  our  Lord. 
On  the  first  day  of  the  week  he  rose  from  the  dead :  this  finished 
the  work  of  our  redemption — the  most  glorious  of  all  the  works 
of  God.     And  as  the  Aiithor  of  the  old  creation  rested  from  his 


*  Exod.  xii.  2.         f  Exud.  xx.  11. 

X  Deut.  V.  15.  Seethe  original.  The  term  Sa'abath  has  tlie'demonstva- 
tive  or  emphatic  prefix,  rnsar  ty  Sabbati  hujus  diem.  And  to  the  same- 
purpose  arc  the  words  ut'Lztk.  xx.  12.  '■'■  I  gai'e  t  hem  t)21j  Sabbaths." 
"  Mif  Sabbaths"'  which  were  on  the  first  days  to  the  patriarchs  "  I  gave 
fo  thcni"  on  their  seventh  day.  This  construction  is,  in  my  opinion,  more 
natural  than  that  of  Dr.  Paley.  Phil,  book  v.  ch.  7. 

§  The  Jewish  proverb  thus  rendered  into  Latin  by  Grotius,  (De  Veri- 
tate  lib.  v.  sect.  10,  note.)  "  Circumcmo  fiellit  Sabbatum,"  has  been  made 
literally  true.     With  circumcision  the  Jewish  Sabbath  is  gone. 

II  Kennicot's  Dissert,  on  the  oblations  of  Cain  and  Abel,  p.  1S4,  ?£r' 
Guyse's  note  on  Col.  ii.  16.  and  Dr.  Owen  on  the  Sabb&tb . 

34 


242  On  the  Defects  of  their  System 

works,  and  ordained  in  the  church  a  Sabbath  to  commemorate 
the  finishing  of  that  work,  so  our  Lord,  the  author  of  the  new 
creation,  the  redemption  of  man,  has  ordained  a  Sabbath  to  com- 
memorate his  finished  work.  We  have  the  highest  authority  for 
this  argument.  An  inspired  writer  has  expressly  used  it.  "  There 
remaineih^  therefore^  a  rest*  for  the  people  of  God :  for  he  that  is  en- 
tered into  his  rest,  has  himself  ceased  from  his  zoorks,  as  God  did 
from  /us."  But  Christ  rose  on  the  first  day  of  the  week.  Hence 
on  the  first  day  only,  can  we  commemorate  his  finished  work. 

And  if  there  have  been  even  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  left  by 
any  obscurity  in  these  intimations  of  his  will,  those  peculiar  ho- 
nours which  our  Lord  conferred  on  the  first  day  Sabbath  have 
entirely  removed  them.  On  this  day  he  rose  from  the  dead ; 
on  this  day  he  appeared  to  his  two  disciples  going  to  Emmaus ; 
on  this  day  he  appeared  in  the  midst  of  his  disciples  once  and 
again  ;t  on  this  day  he  poured  out  the  Holy  Ghost  in  his  extra- 
ordinary gifts  on  his  apostles  ;|  and  it  was  on  this  day  that  he  dis- 
closed the  revelations  to  St.  John  for  the  comfort  of  the  church 
in  every  vicissitude  of  her  pilgrimage. 

The  following  will  illustrate  the  fact  that  the  command  "  to  re- 
member the  Sabbath  day"  is  not  revoked.  An  apostle  has  de- 
livered this  precept :  "  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  let  every 

one  lay  by  him  in  store. "'§ Two  things  are  here  enjoined ; 

a  duty,  and  the  time  fixed  for  that  duty.  A  collection  must  be 
made  for  the  poor  saints ;  and  this  collection  must  be  made  on 
*•  the  first  day  of  the  week  5"'  and  this  high  authority  enjoins  the 
last  as  decisively  as  the  first.  But  collections  for  the  saints  were 
always  made  by  the  churches  in  their  weekly  assemblies  for 
worship.  Hence  in  connexion  w  ith  remembering  the  poor,  the 
precept  involves  an  injunction  to  meet  for  divine  worship  "  on  the 
first  day  of  the  Aveek." 

There  is  another  argument  which  ought  to  be  brought  into 
view.  This  Sabbath  is  in  the  New  Testament  called  "  the  Lord's 
d«i/."||     Now  when  God  puts  his  name  on  persons  or  things,  he 

*    "  I^a/B^arier/itc,''^  the  keeping  of  a  Sabbath,  Heb.  iv.  9,  10. 

f  John  ;.  <.  19  cind  26.  ij:  It  was  on  Pentecost,  or  the  fiftieth  day  : 
which,  u(  cording  to  the  statement  of  Moses,  was  the  day  succeeding  the 
Jewish  Sabbath.  See  Levit.  xxiii.  15,  16. 

§  ICor.  xvi.2,&c.       |l  Rev.  i.  10. 


In  Point  of  Religious  Institutions.  243 

intimates  that  they  are  in  a  peculiar  manner  devoted  to  him  for 
no  common  display  of  his  glory.  If  this  day,  then,  be  the  Lord's 
day,  it  must  be  specially  devoted  to  him  in  religious  services. 
The  friends  affirm  that  "  every  day  is  the  Lord's  day."  This  is 
mere  shuffling  to  evade  the  argument.  St.  John  fixes  by  these 
terms,  the  precise  pjeriod  on  which  he  received  his  holy  revela- 
tions. It  was  on  "  the  Lord's  day ;"  he  could  not  without  the 
imputation  of  trifling,  mean  every  day,  or  any  day.  This  phrase 
is,  in  fact,  not  singular  nor  obscure;  its  meaning  is  clearly  deter- 
mined in  other  particulars.  Thus  we  say  the  "  Lord's  prayer," 
the  "  Lord's  supper."  No  man  complains  of  the  obscurity  of 
these  phrases;  we  know  distinctly  at  first  view,  what  idea  is 
meant  to  be  conveyed  by  them.  Can  any  thing  except  preju- 
•dice,  prevent  us  from  admitting  that  the  phrase  "  Lord's  day'''' 
marks  as  distinctly  the  relation  of  that  day  to  our  Lord,  as  the 
phrase  "  Lord's  supper''''  does  the  relation  of  that  institution  to 
him  ?  Will  the  Quaker  admit  that  "  every  prayer  is  the  Lord's 
prayer  ?  that  every  supper  is  the  Lord's  supper  ?" 

But  has  not  an  apostle  classed  "  Sabbath  days"  with  the  abol- 
ished ceremonies  of  the  Jews?*  He  has — and  this,  instead  of 
operating  against  our  argument,  confirms  what  we  have  been  ad- 
vancing. The  sacred  writers  invariably  use  the  term  Sabbath  in 
the  New  Testament,  when  writing  of  the  Jewish  rest.  And  this 
establishes  the  fact  that  they  have  abolished  the  seventh  day 
Sabbath.  But  the  command  given  before  the  law  of  ceremonies  to 
keep  a  day  of  rest^  stands  unrepealed. 

Finally :  the  authentic  records  of  the  church  establish  the  fact 
that  christians  in  every  age  of  the  new  dispensation,  have  kept 
the  Sabbath  on  the  first  day  of  the  week.  The  ancients  men- 
tion in  explicit  terms,  not  only  the  fact,  but  their  reasons  for  do- 
ing so.      "  Tlaxai  m  iv  to/{  af^etioit  t»  T</U<of  va^/Sarof,  /jitrtBtxt  J'i   i  Kufiot 

T»i  Tov  erct^Saroti  H^tp air  t/c  >ti/|)/«itm»."t  "  Of  old  there  was  among  the 
ancients  the  honourable  Sabbath  ;  but  our  Lord  changed  the  day 
of  Sabbath  to  the  Lord's  day." 

Now  if  this  had  not  thesanctionof  our  Lord,  it  was  an  unwar- 

•  Barclay's  Obj.  from  Col.  ii.  16. 

t  Athanasius  In  Homul.  deSemente.  and  B.  D.  Moor  Com.  ii.  p.  829, 
also  see  Bingh.  Orig.  Eccles.  vol.  v.  lib.  13,  c.  9,  10,  and  vol.  ix.  lib.  20, 
-'.  2.  Turret,  vol.  ii.  85,  &c. 


244  On  the  Defects  of  their  System 

rantable  innovation  ;  if  so,  when  was  it  made  ?  In  no  age  posterior 
to  the  apostolical,  for  we  can  trace  it  up  to  that  period.  If  an 
innovation,  by  whom  was  it  first  made?  by  an  individual?  No 
uninspired  person  could  move  the  church  to  an  innovation  so 
general.  By  a  particular  church  ?  no  particular  church  could 
dictate  to  the  church  universal.  By  the  whole  church  perhaps 
this  custom  v.a-  iitroduced;  but  where  did  that  ever  meet  in 
council?  Never,  unless  in  the  sacred  college  of  the  apostles  ;  and 
to  no  other  source  can  we  trace  the  origin  of  this  change.  Our 
ix>rd  withdrew  the  peculiarities  of  Judaism.  Their  Sabbath  re- 
ceded with  the  rest ;  the  original  precept  was  recognised  to  be  in 
full  force:  and  these  inspired  ministers  of  Christ  acted  under  its 
authority,  and  set  us  a  sure  and  safe  example. 

If  these  things  are  so,  there  must  be  a  radical  defect  in  that 
system  which  rejects  the  moral  obligation  to  keep  the  Lord's 
day;  and  no  human  authority  or  contrivance  can  supply  what  is 
thence  lacking.  But  they  do  assemble  for  worship  on  the  Sabbath ; 
and,  as  if  to  make  atonement  for  the  violence  which  their  father's 
offered  to  the  fourth  commandment,  they  do  observe,  with  equal 
solemnity,  another  day  in  the  week  besides  that.  But  the  Sab- 
bath which  they  keep  is,  on  their  plea,  not  enjoined  by  the  au- 
thority of  heaven  ;  and  if  it  be  not  enjoined,  it  is  a  human  device, 
unwarrantably  intruded  into  the  service  of  their  Creator.  And- 
hence  they  place  themselves  by  the  side  of  those  to  whom  the 
Most  High  has  said,  ''  Who  hath  required  this  at  your  hands  ?  the 
calling  of  assemhlies  I  cannot  army  u-ith.  It  is  iniquity  even  the  so- 
lemn meeting.^'*  They  keep  a  Sabbath,  and  another  day,  and 
have  no  divine  authority  for  it ! — 1'his  is  to  be  set  down  with  the 
works  of  supererogation;  it  is  a  kind  of  venturous  rivalship  in 
his  Holiness'  zeal,  who  instead  of  resting  in  the  number  of  sacra- 
ments fixed  by  the  authority  of  heaven,  has  liberally  provided 
his  church  with  seven :  or  in  that  of  the  still  more  liberal  Dr. 
Deacon  of  England,  whose  burning  zeal  has  swelled  the  list  of 
the  sacraments  to  twelve!!  Hence  on  the  principles  of  the 
Friends,  their  meeting  for  worship  on  First-days  is  not  required 
by  any  law  of  God.  It  is  therefore,  on  their  part,  an  act  of  de- 
liberate zcill  zvorship  in  the  sight  of  God ! 

♦  Isa.  i.  12,  IS.         f  See  his  "  View  of  Christianity."  oz\.?i.vo.  Publish- 
ed in  the  year  J  748. 


In  Point  nf  Jleligious  Institutions — Baptism.    245 

§  2.  Of  the  Holy  Sacraments, — In  the  house  of  God,  there  are, 
besides  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  the  holy  sacraments.  By 
the  former,  divine  truths  are  conveyed  to  us  by  the  sense  of  hear- 
ing; by  the  latter,  passing  through  a  variety  of  the  senses,  they 
strike  the  mind  with  deeper  force.  '*  Wert  thou  a  soul  without  a 
body,"  said  the  eloquent  Chrysosthom,  "  our  Lord  would  have 
conveyed  to  thee  his  gifts  naked,  and  without  sensible  signs :  but 
as  thy  soul  is  united  to  thy  body,  he  has  delivered  them  by  visi- 
ble tilings."  Thus  he  employs  means  adapted  to  our  nature.  By 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel  he  produces  faith ;  by  the  sacraments 
he  confirms  it  in  our  diffident  and  wavering  minds,  and  seals  his 
love  upon  our  hearts. 

These  sacraments  are  two :  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper. 

The  society  has  rejected  both  of  these  institutions.  This  is 
the  necessary  consequence  of  the  first  error  of  their  system. 
Their  Christ  and  their  worship  are  wholly  within.  Those  ordi- 
nances, therefore,  which  direct  their  minds  to  that  Christ,  and 
to  those  objects  without  them,  are  not  only  useless,  but  positively 
injurious.  They  ought,  of  course,  to  cease  ;  and  they  have  ceased. 
This  is  their  doctrine  and  the  form  of  their  defence.*  And  all 
else  that  is  offered  by  their  advocates,  resemble  the  stratagems 
of  a  retreating  enemy.  They  are  merely  hindrances  thrown 
up  to  prevent  a  pursuit.  They  do  not  pretend  to  be  guided  by 
the  scriptures.  Their  guide  is  within  them.  But  they  deem  it 
lawful  for  them  to  take  the  benefit  of  all  that  they  can  produce 
out  of  them,  in  the  shape  of  objections,  against  those  who  make 
the  Holy  Bible  the  standard  of  truth  and  duty. 

Of  Baptism. — "K«»  viJy  t///sX7.«/{'  Av^yac  ^a.vritrai.^'' — The  follow- 
ing is  the  whole  amount  of  their  objections  to  this  institution. 
"  There  is  but  one  baptism.  That  one  baptism  is  not  water  baptism. 
It  is  Christ*s  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Water  baptism  was  only 
the  figure  of  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit.  The  latter  has  been  conferred 
071  us.     The  former^  therefore,  has  ceasec/."t 

The  argument  is  founded  on  a  false  assumption,  and  the  whole 
body  of  it  is  a  combination  of  error  and  sophistry. 

*  The  argument  that  takes  away  their  light  within,  and  their  revela- 
tions, takes  away  this  doctrine  and  their  argument, 
•j-  Bar.  Thes.  and  Prop.  xii. 


246  OJ  their  Defects  in  Point  of  Divine 

For,  first — The  word  baptize,  in  its  original  and  universal  ac- 
ceptation, signifies  to  wash  ;  and  it  implies  as  necessarily  the  pre- 
sence and  use  of  water,  as  the  phrase,  to  rain,  does  the  falling  of 
water.  It  is  used,  like  many  other  terms,  in  a  figurative  sense. 
But  when  it  is  used  in  that  sense,  it  is  always  qualified  by  words, 
which  leave  no  doubt  of  what  is  intended.  Thus,  "  He  will  bap- 
tize you  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire.''''  So  is  the  phrase  "  to 
rahfC  used  in  a  figurative  sense.  "  God  rained  manna  and  fiesh 
from  heaven.'^''  But  when  the  simple  term  "  baptize''''  is  used,  it  can 
no  more  imply  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  than  the  term 
"  rain'^  can  imply  the  fall  of  manna,  or  of  flesh  ;  and  this  original 
and  classical  meaning  of  the  word  is  not  to  be  departed  from, 
unless  the  authority  of  the  context  shall  clearly  decide  that  a 
figurative  sense  is  intended.  Far  less  should  it  be  confounded 
^ith  any  thing  more  remote  from  this  signification.* 

Second — The  term  baptize  is  in  several  instances  used  in  a 
figurative  sense,  and  each  of  these  instances  brings  to  view  a  dif- 
ferent kind  of  baptism.  The  fathers  distinguished  them  into 
three  classes.!  The  first  is  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
There  are  six  texts  in  which  this  kind  is  mentioned ;  and  a  single 
expression  of  our  Lord  clearly  determines  in  what  sense  these 
are  to  be  understood.  "  Ye,"  the  apostles,  "  shall  be  baptized  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  not  many  days  hence.''''  This  took  place  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost.  Hence  this  baptism  difl^ered  from  the  baptism  of 
John,  both  in  manner  and  in  design.  In  the  latter,  water  was 
used  as  the  sacred  symbol.  The  candidate  professed  his  faith 
in  Christ,  and  pledged  himself  in  solemn  vows  to  repent  of  his 
sins,  and  to  lead  a  pious  life.  In  the  former  no  water  was  used. 
There  appeared  in  the  baptized  apostles  "  cloven  tongues  like  as 
offire.^''X  They  spoke  in  foreign  tongues,  and  received  other 
miraculous  powers.     As  to  the  latter,  our  Lord  and  his  disciples 

*  I  have  known  well  informed  Quakers  assert  not  only  that  "  baptism'* 
meant  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  that  in  the  commission  of  the 
apostles,  Matth.  xxviii.  19,  it  is  perfectly  synonymous  with  the  words"  to 
teach  ;"  and  Barclay,  with  the  rage  which  possesses  the  society  of  putting 
all  nnthin  them,  makes  the  water  John  iii.  5,  to  be  inward  mystical  iva- 
ter  I  p.  455. 

f  "  Baptismus,  1.  Flaminis,  2.  Luminis,  3.  Sanguinis.  [The  4.  (flu- 
minis)  is  laater  ba/iti/nn.'} 

±  Math.  iii.  22.  Mark  i.  8.  Ltike  iii.  16.  John  i.  33.  Actsi.  5,  and 
ch-  xi.  16. 


Ordinances. — Baptism,  2411 

even  in  the  days  of  John,  "  made  and  baptized  more  disciples  than 
John^  But  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  not  conferred 
until  our  Lord  had  ascended ;  and  this  distinction  is  thus  clearly 
marked  by  the  highest  authority.  "  As  yet  the  Holy  Ghost  had 
fallen  upon  none  of  them ;  only  they  -were  baptized  in  the  name  of 
JesusJ'''* 

The  second  is  the  baptism  of  doctrine.  "  The  baptism  of  John, 
whence  was  it  ?"  They  were  all  baptized  unto  Moses  in  the  cloud,  and 
in  the  ^ea." 

The  third  is  the  baptism  of  blood.  "  /  have  a  baptism  to  be 
baptized  with.''"'  This  took  place  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane, 
when  our  Lord's  "  sweat  was  as  great  drops  of  blood  falling  down 
oti  the  groitn  J."t 

And  we  may  add  a  fourth ;  the  inward  baptism  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  which,  together  with  the  outward  baptism  by  water,  makes 
the  one  baptism  common  to  all  true  christians.  This  is  intended 
in  the  following  words.  "  By  one  spirit  are  toe  all  baptized  into 
one  body.^'  This  is  to  be  carefully  distinguished  from  "  the  bap- 
tism of  the  Holy  Ghost.X  The  apostles  most  certainly  had  the 
grace  of  God  in  them  long  before  the  day  of  Pentecost.  After 
they  were  baptized  with  water ;  after  they  had  been  baptized  by 
the  Spirit,  then,  into  one  body,  our  Lord  said,  "  ye  shall  be  bap- 
tized zoith  the  Holy  Ghost  not  many  days  hence,''''  It  is  evident, 
therefore,  that  at  their  baptism  with  water,  or  at  any  rate,  at  Uie 
moment  of  their  conversion,  they  "  xoere  baptized  by  the  Spirit,''' 
At  Pentecost,  they  were  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  The 
first  was  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit  in  his  saving  and  special  in- 
fluences. The  last  was  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit  in  his  miracu- 
lous gifts.  The  first  regarded  them  as  true  christians ;  the  last 
qualified  them  as  true  apostles.  I  have  not  met  with  a  Quaker 
or  a  Quaker  writer  who  does  not  invariably  confound  these  two, 
as  they  always  do  confound  the  saving  gifts  with  the  miraculous 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

♦  Acts  viii.  16,  17.     See  Pool.  Synops.  iiiMatth.  iii.  11. 

t  Luke  xii.  50.     See  also  Mark  x.  39. 

4^  These  three  are  distinctly  mentioned  in  the  narrative  of  Paul's  con- 
version. He  was  baptized  by  the  spirit  of  special  grace,  Acts  ix.  6  and- 
11 — I)y  the  "  Holy  Gliost"  in  his  extraordinary  gifts,  verse  17,  compared 
Avith  ch.  viii.  15,  &c.  and  by  the  baptism  of  water  under  the  ministry  of 
Ananias.  "  Arise  and  be  baptized."  "  And  he  arose  and  was  baptized." 
Ch.  xxii.  16. 


248       Of  the  Defects  of  their  System  in  Foint  of 

We  have  thus  made  it  out,  that  there  is  a  plurality  of  baptisms. 
And  thus  we  have  destroyed  the  ground-work  of  Barclay,  and 
the  society's  fabric — "  that  there  is  but  one  baptism.^^ 

Third :  Since  there  is  a  plurality  of  baptisms,  we  must  explain 
that  much  injured  quotation,* — "  There  is  one  baptism^''  according 
to  the  analogy  of  faith.  In  exhorting  christians  to  unity,  the 
apostle  brings  a  forcible  motive  from  the  facts,  that  "  there  is  one 
Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism.'^  This  is  very  different  from  the  turn 
which  the  apologist  gives  to  the  text :  he  saj^s,  "  there  is  but  one 
baptism."!  Were  a  mediator  to  interpose  his  good  offices  be- 
tween two  contending  powers,  and  exhort  them  to  forbearance 
and  peace,  by  reminding  them  that  they  were  brethren,  original- 
ly of  one  family,  and  that  they  had  one  language,  could  it  be 
justly  inferred  that  he  asserted  that  "  there  was  but  one  language? 
— would  it  not  lie  evident  that  he  fixes  on  one  that  is  common  to 
both ;  while  he  omits  the  mention  of  others  that  Avere  foreign  to 
his  subject.  On  this  principle  we  explain  the  expression — you 
have  "  one  baptism"  common  to  you  as  christians  ;  you  are  all 
baptized  with  the  same  clement ;  j'ou  have  the  same  renovation 
of  mind  and  spirit,  which  is  signified  and  sealed  by  this  external 
rite.  It  includes  the  same  profession  of  faith  in  your  common 
Lord  ;  it  binds  you  to  the  same  duties.  He  could  not  have 
brought  a  motive  from  any  other  baptism:  no  other  baptism  was 
common  to  them  all.  And  this  "  one  baptism''''  according  to  the 
literal  and  classical  meaning  of  the  word,  is  that  baptism  which 
we  advocate,  and  which  we  practise. 

Hence  Barclay's  first  position  is  false  in  fact,  and  it  is  founded 
on  a  deception.  He  puts  the  term  "  ftwi"  into  this  sacred  clause 
of  our  Saviour's  testament ;  and  had  it  been  a  human  testament, 
it  would  have  been  felony  in  law ;  and  he  makes  the  divine  in- 
strument say  "  there  is  but  one  baptism."  And  on  this  fraud  he 
builds  his  miserable  sophism  ! 

But  even  allowing  him  all  the  benefit  of  this  fraud — allowing 
that  there  "  is  but  one  baptism,^''  his  doctrine  has  no  foundation 
here ;  for  the  church  teaches  tliat  the  outward  means  and  the 
inward  grace,  are  the  "  one  baplisrn"  common  to  all  true  believers. 
By  the  outward  baptism  of  water  "  they  put  on  Chris  f^  by  profeS' 

*  From  Eph.  iv.  6.        f  Bar.  Apol.  Prop.  xii.  sect.  3.  p.  427. 


Divine  Ordinances. — Baptism.  249 

sion ;  and  thence  have  the  common  relation  of  membership  to 
each  other.  By  the  inward  baptism  of  the  spirit  '•'•  they  put  on 
Chrisf  \n  reality:  and  thence  have  the  common  relation  of  God's 
children. 

This  is  a  point  on  which  I  never  could  get  a  Quaker  to  do  the 
church  justice.  While  we  do  carefully  distinguish  these  two,  we 
do  not  separate  them.  We  do  not  advocate  water  baptism  to 
the  exclusion  of  the  baptism  of  the  spirit;  we  do  not  expect  to 
obtain  the  latter  without  employing  the  former ;  we  do  not  con- 
sider the  outward  baptism  to  be  the  component  part  of  the  in- 
ward. No — the  last  bears  the  relation  to  the  first  which  the 
end  bears  to  the  means.  And  this  connexion  is  established 
clearly,  and  by  the  highest  authority.* 

Did  the  Friends  make  themselves  acquainted  with  the  senti- 
ments of  the  church,  on  this  distinction  between  the  means  and 
the  grace,  and  on  the  nature  of  the  connexion  between  the  means 
and  the  end,  they  certainly  had  not  brought  against  her  these 
erroneous  imputations.!  Their  error  lies  in  taking  it  for  granted 
that  we  confound  the  external  baptism  with  the  internal ;  that  we 
make  water  baptism  the  whole  baptism  intended;  or  tiiat  we 
make  the  former  in  such  a  way  a  part  of  the  latter,  that  where 
the  one  is,  there  must  be  the  other. 

This  distinction  between  the  means  and  the  grace,  is  marked 
in  a  striking  manner  by  that  much  injured  text.  "  Baptism  doth 
also  now  save  us,  not  the  putting  away  of  the  filth  ofthefiesh.'''\ 

Here  two  baptisms  are  mentioned.  The  Friends  admit  this. 
The  apostle  does  not  set  aside  as  unnecessary,  either  the  one  or 
the  other;  he  carefully  distinguishes  them,  and  assigns  to  each  its 
own  distinct  place  in  our  salvation.  ""  Baptism  saves  ws,"  but  it 
is  "vioi  the  putting  away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh.'''  It  is  not  the  ex- 
ternal washing  that  is  the  whole  baptism.  It  does  "  save  us  ;" 
but  it  is  only  as  the  means ;  it  represents ;  it  seals ;  it  applies  the 
blood  of  Christ:  and  it  is  by  the  blood  of  Christ  alone,  applied 
through  his  institutions,  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  that  we  are  saved. 

It  is  on  this  text  that  Barclay — that  the  whole  society  hang  up 

*  In  Mark  xvi.  16,  and  Eph.  v.  26.  Gal.  iii.  27. 

t  That  our  doctrine  will  infer  that  all  those  who  are  baptized  will  have 
*'  fiiU  on  Christ,^'  and  will  be  saved.  %  1  Pet.  iii.  21. 

35 


350       Of  the  Defects  of  their  System  in  Point  of 

that  weight,  the  sin  which  besets  them.  "  Water  haptism^^  say 
thej,  "  «A-  not  the  putting  away  of  the  flth  of  the  flesh — therefore  wa- 
ter baptism  is  not  the  true  baptism.'''*  This  is  worse  than  sophistry ; 
it  is  an  absurdity  5  it  is  paramount  to  this :  Because  the  means 
are  not  the  blessed  agent ;  because  the  means  are  not  the  blessed 
etFect;  therefore,  there  is  no  necessity  for  the  use  of  means,  it 
is  not  only  an  absurd  objection,  it  has  a  licentious  tendency ;  it 
will  detract  from  the  honour  of  every  ordinance  of  the  Most 
High.  Circumcision,  for  instance,  was  certainly  enjoined  by 
divine  authority.  The  apostle  explaining  the  use  of  it,  says 
"  Neither  is  that  circumcision  which  is  in  the  flesh  ;  but  circumcision 
IS  that  of  the  heart  in  the  spirit.''^  Had  Barclay — had  any  Quaker 
been  introduced  to  Abraham,  or  to  Moses,  he  would  have  rea- 
soned thus :  as  he  has  argued  against  baptism.  "  The  outward 
act  of  circumcision  is  not  the  circumcision  of  the  heart;  and  it  is 
certain  that  the  outward  cannot  produce  the  inward :  that  of  the 
heart,  therefore,  is  the  only  true  circumcision.  And  it  is  unwar- 
rantable and  trifling  in  you,  Abraham,  and  in  you,  Moses,  to  cir- 
cumcise the  foreskin  of  the  flesh !" Verily  the  children 

of  our  modern  Zipporahs  have  reason  to  offer  up  daily  gratitude 
to  God,  because  they  do  not  live  under  the  ancient  order  of 
things !  The  tavern  scene  of  Moses  might  be  repeated  to  them 
with  circumstances  of  encreased  terror  and  destruction ! 

Every  Quaker  who  walks  devoutly  in  the  steps  of  Barclay, 
makes  baptism,  by  water,  the  figure  of  baptism  by  the  Holy 
Ghost;  and,  gravely  asserts  that  because  the  latter  has  come, 
the  former  has  past  away.  But,  unhappily  for  this  argument,  it 
is  built  on  a  false  assumption.  There  is  not,  on  the  page  of  holy 
writ,  even  an  insinuation  that  baptism,  by  water,  is  the  figure  of 
the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  and  that  the  first  was  to  cease 
when  the  last  was  conferred  is  assumed  without  proof.  Nay,  it 
is  assumed  in  the  face  of  the  clearest  evidence  to  the  contrary. 
At  Pentecost,  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  took  place.  And, 
it  is  evident,  that  under  the  eyes  of  the  apostles,  special  care 
was  taken  in  the  succeeding  ages,  during  the  purest  days  of 


*  This  is  borrowed  from  Barclay,  Apol.Prop.xii.  sect.  1  and  4,  proofs 
4  and  :>,  by  Pike  on  Bapt.  p.  II,  A.  1)  170o.  The  objection  is  on  tlie  lips 
of  every  Quaker  wlio  doeb  possess  an  idea  on  the  subject. 


Divine  Ordinances. — Baptism.  251 

the  church,  that  all  who  embraced  the  gospel  should  be  bap- 
tized with  water.* 

The  Quakers  have  resorted  to  the  following  words  for  an  ar- 
gument against  baptism.  They  are  the  words  of  John.  "  He 
mvst  increase ;  hut  I  must  decrease.''''  Before  this  can  assume  the 
form  of  an  effective  argument,  the  critics  of  the  society  must 
make  it  out,  by  some  singular  process  of  argument,  that  John  and 
water  baptism  were  one  individual  thing — and  must  decrease 

before  Christ  and  his  baptism which  must  be  also  one 

and  the  same  thing — according  to  their  premises ! 

Fourth :  This  doctrine  of  the  society  involves  in  it  a  series  of 
contradictions.  The  true  and  literal  meaning  of  the  word  "  bap- 
tize,*" say  they,  is  not  to  baptize  with  water,  but  with  the  Holy 
Ghost. — This  supposition  sets  aside  the  authority  of  the  Greek 
classics  :  it  supposes  that  the  figurative  use  of  words  existed  be- 
fore their  natural  and  original  sense :  it  makes  language  vao-ue 
and  uncertain :  it  denies  that  the  sacred  penman  used  the  cur- 
rent language  of  Greece  :  that  he  imposed  arbitrary  meaning  on 
words,  to  the  manifest  deception  of  his  readers.  If  this  suppo- 
sition be  true,  the  apostles  were  without  grace,  and  without 
faith,  and  without  the  love  of  God — until  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost, when  they  were  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  If  this 
supposition  be  true,  then  no  man  is  baptized — that  is,  on  their 
principles,  no  man  has  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  has  not,  like  the 
apostles,  extraordinary  gifts,  and  can  work  miracles.  This  sup- 
position is  made  in  the  face  of  holy  writ.  For  some  "  rcere  bap- 
tized in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  on  zvhoni  the  Holy  Ghost  had  not 
yet  fallen.^^t  If  this  supposition  be  true,  the  apostles  must  have 
baptized  "  with  the  Holy  Ghost,"  those  who  had  the  Holy 
Ghost.  The  centurion,  for  instance,  and  his  attendants,  and 
Crispus,  were  devout  worshippers  of  the  true  God.J  And  they 
must,  therefore,  have  been  endued  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  And 
yet,  after  this  proof  of  their  having  the  Spirit,  the  apostle  order- 
ed them  to  be  baptized — that  is,  on  their  principle,  they 
conferred  on  them  the  Holy  Ghost.  If  this  supposition  be  true, 
the  apostle  who  exhorted  the  people  in  these  words,  "  repent  and 

*  Acts  ii.  38,  &c.  &c.       f  Acts  viii.  18.       X  Acts  x.  2  and  48,  xviii.  8. 


252       Of  the  Defects  of  their  System  in  Point  of 

hfi  baptized,  every  one  of  you,  and  ye  shall  receive  the  Holy  Ghost^'' 
is  held  up  as  an  idle  proser,  publishing  this  truism — which  need- 
ed no  powers  of  inspiration  to  dictate  it — "  Be  baptized  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  ye  shall  receive  the  Holy  Ghost,'''' 

Fifth:  The  sentiments  of  the  society  slander  the  venerable 
and  inspired  apostles.  Peter  having  perceived  that  the  "  Holy 
Ghost  had  fallen''''  on  his  Gentile  audience,  made  this  appeal  to 
every  heart  present:  "  Can  any  man  forbid  water  that  these  should 
not  be  baptized r*  And  he  commanded  them  to  be  baptized.  Bar- 
clay admits  the  fact  that  the  apostle  did  baptize  with  water. 
What!  after  Pentecost?  after  the  baptism  of  the  Ploly  Ghost? 
Has  he  surrendered  the  point? — No,  it  is  saved  by  the  good  old 
convenient  maxim — "  What  will  not  bend  must  break."  He 
impugns  the  authority  of  the  apostle ;  he  denies  that  the  fact 
proves  the  right]  he  denies  that  he  had  any  authority  to  baptize 
with  water.  He  ranks  this  action  of  the  apostle  by  the  side  of 
an  error  which  he  ventures  to  ascribe  to  him,  "  that  he  constrain- 
ed the  Gentiles  in  general,  to  be  circumcised  ;"t  and  leaves  his 
readers  to  infer  that  the  baptism  with  water  was  as  unwarrant- 
able as  this.J Oh  !  the  impious  daring  of  men,  whom  dis- 
tinguished talents  have  thrown  forward  into  the  first  ranks  of 
error !  And  whose  unholy  hands  labour  to  subdue  every  thing 

to  the  measure  of  their  system The  venerable  apostle 

had  been  called  to  account  for  trespassing  the  limits  which  na- 
tional prejudice  had  fixed  between  the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles : 
he  had  justified  himself  in  the  presence  of  the  apostles,  by  a  de- 
tail of  the  circumstances  which  led  him  to  it:  he  had  appealed 
to  his  Lord  for  the  authority  under  which  he  had  acted,  in  teach- 
ing and  baptizing  the  Gentiles.  '"'  IVhat  was  I  that  I  could  withstand 
God  f  On  hearing  this,  friends  and  foes  "  held  their  peace.''''  They 

*  Acts  X.  47.         t  Apol.  Prop.  xii.  sect.  9. 

■\.  There  is  no  eviclenci;  tiiat  St.  Peter  constrained  the  Gentiles  to  be 
circumcised.  He  was  rebuked  by  another  apostle  for  dissembling,  and 
for  compelling  the  Gentiles  "  ^o  live  like  the  Jews."  Gal.  ii.  11.  But 
this  does  not  involve  the  charge  of  Barclay.  And  it  is  certain  tliat  in  the 
Synod  of  Jerusalem  in  A.  D.  52,  Peter  did  publicly  contend  that  the  Gen- 
tiles sAo^i/c/  not  be  circumcised.  Acts  xv.  And  even  admitting,  for  a  mo- 
ment, that  St.  Peter  had  neen  gaihy  of  this,  he  would  have  been  tram- 
pling on  the  decree  of  the  Syn.d  of  Jerusalem  ;  which  set  the  Gentiles 
free  from  circumcision.  Hence  even  on  Barclay's  ground  the  two  cases 
are  not  parallel.     Barclay  does,  therefore,  slander  St.  Peter. 


Divine  Ordinances. — Baptism.  253 

ceased  to  blame.  "  T%ey  glorified  God'''  for  what  was  done.  It 
was  reserved  for  a  Catholic  college  of  Paris  to  produce  a  pupil 
who  should  refuse  "  to  hold  his  peace,''''  and  who  should  condemn 
the  holy  aposde: — aye,  and  the  whole  college  of  the  apostles! 
Nor  does  the  sanctity  of  the  apostle  Paul  escape  their  severity. 
They  represent  him  as  actually  asserting  that  he  had  no  com- 
mission to  baptize  ;*  and  yet  they  allow,  he  did  baptize  with  wa- 
ter.    But  he  had  a  commission;  he  had  it  in  common  with  the 

rest ;  "  Go  ye  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them And  he  did 

baptize  with  water.!  This  is  a  valuable  comment  on  the  mean- 
ing of  the  terms  in  the  commission.  It  is  not  once  to  be  laid  in 
the  balance  with  the  theories  of  system  makers;  and  his  words 
which  are  abused  to  a  foreign  purpose,  must  be  explained  in  a 
manner  consistent  with  his  commission  and  his  actual  practice. 
"  Christ  sent  me  not  to  baptize,  but  to  preach.^^  That  is,  he  was  sent 
not  '■^principally  to  baptize.'^  This  work  belonged  chiefly  to  the 
ordinary  ministers  of  the  church.  He  was  sent  chiefly  to  preach 
and  plant  churches ;  for  this  was  the  weighty  duty  of  an  apostle.J 

Sixth — The  doctrine  of  the  society  involves  in  it  something 
worse  than  contradictions.  That  baptism  in  the  commission  of 
the  apostles,  they  make  to  be  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  :§ 
and  this"  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  includes  his  special  influences 
and  his  miraculous  powers.  With  this  baptism,  the  apostles,  say 
they,  did  baptize  their  audiences.  And  thus  the  apostles  had 
power  to  give  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  his  saving  influences,  and  in 
his  miraculous  gifts. 

Every  Quaker  is  in  the  habit  of  making  invidious  distinctions 
between  Christ's  baptism  and  water  baptism.     The  last  is  only 

*  Barclay's  Apol.  Prop.  xi.  sect.  7.  p.  442. 

t  The  society  admits  that  he  baptized  with  water ;  for  otherwise  it 
would  follow  that  he  "  thanked  God  that  he  bajitlzed  feiv'"'  with  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  or  that  he  was  not  "  sent  to  bajitize''  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  1 
Cor.  i.  14,  16. 

X  The  practice  of  St.  Peter  throws  a  clear  lig:ht  on  this  fact.  He  did 
not  baptize  the  converts  himself,  he  "  commanded  them  to  be  baptized^* 
Actsx.  38.  In  the  following  passage  we  ha\e  an  instance  nt  ilie  nega- 
tive term  "  nof  used  in  the  above  sense.  "  /  desired  mercy  and  not 
sacrifice.'"  Hos.  vi.  6.  Matth.  ix.  13.  Sacrifices  were  enjoined  by  dn  ine 
authority  ;  but  mercy  was  required  firinci/ia/ly.  In  the  foUouing  texts 
the  critic  may  find  additional  instances.  Jcr.  vii.  22.  23.  1  Pet-  iii.  3,  4 
John  XV.  22,  24,  &c.         §  Bar.  Apol.  Prop.  xii.  p.  450. 


254       Of  the  Defects  of  their  System  in  Point  of 

a  washing  in  water.  The  first  made  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Men 
may  baptize  with  water.  Christ  only  could  baptize  with  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

But,  when  they  are  pressed  for  an  argument  against  the  apos- 
tles' commission  "  to  haplize  with  zoater,''^  they  spontaneously  give 
up  this  distinction.  They  cease  to  claim  for  Christ  the  exclusive 
honour  of  baptizing  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  They  even  advocate 
warmly  what  before  they  were  sure  was  wrong.  They  are  cer- 
tain that  the  apostles — that  men  did  baptize  with  the  Holy  Ghost* 

The  baptism  of  the  Holj'  Ghost  cannot  be  elfected  by  man.  It 
is  infinitely  beyond  the  reach  of  human  power.  It  is  competent 
to  God  alone.  Hence  the  language  held  by  the  holy  scriptures. 
'■'■He  will  baptize  you  zoith  the  Holy  G/iosf."  "  The  Father  ivill  send 
ym  the  Holy  Ghost.''''  There  is  no  evidence  that  a  commission  is 
given  to  man  to  baptize  with  this  baptism.  In  no  place  is  it  on 
record  that  man  has  done  it,  or  that  man  can  do  it. 

If  the  apostles  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  they  did  it  either 
as  the  agents  or  as  the  means.  Not  as  the  agents  could  they  do 
it.t  They  could  not  usurp  the  prerogative  of  God.  In  all  their 
official  deeds  they  occupied  the  humble  stations  of  instruments ; 
IV  hose  movements,  and  whose  very  existence  were  absolutely  at 
the  divine  disposal.  And  it  is  a  maxim  resting  on  the  highest 
authority,  and  useful  in  leading  the  critic  into  the  correct  mean- 
ing of  many  passages  of  sacred  writ,  that  our  Lord  and  his  min- 
isters are  said  "  to  do  that  which  the  means  employed  by  them  have  a 
moral  tendency  to produce.^''l  Apply  this  to  the  different  baptisms 
of  the  Spirit.  St.  Paul  was  sent  to  "  open  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  to 
htm  from  the  ponder  of  Satan  to  God.^"*  This  he  did,  simply  by 
publishing  and  expounding  the  truths  of  the  gospel.  He  dis- 
claimed all  agency  that  might  be  suspected  of  trenching  on  the 
honour  of  his  Lord.  "  Paul  may  plant,  Apollos  may  water,  but  God 
giveth  the  increase.''''  On  the  contrary,  if  his  teaching  had,  as  the 
Quakers  say,  been  his  act  of  baptizing  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  his 
gifts  would  have  been  as  extensive  and  as  general  as  his  teaching 
among  the  Gentiles. 

*  Barclay  is  very  positive  on  this.     See  Prop.  xii.  sect.  8,  p.  450. 
t  Barclay  says,  yes,  as  instruments — p.  450. 

t  See  some  fine  illustrations  and  proofs  of  this  in  Ezek.  xxiv.  13.  Matth. 
xxiii.  37.     Acts  xxvi.  18,  &c. 


Divine  Ordinances. — Baptism.  255 

Let  us  also  extend  this  to  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as 
it  respects,  most  properly,  his  miraculous  gifts.  The  apostles 
implored  heaven  for  these  gifts.  As  they  prayed,  they  laid  their 
hands  on  those  for  whom  they  besought  them.  This  action  was 
a  sign  by  which  they  marked  out  to  their  audience  the  person  on 
whom  the  gift  was  to  be  conferred ;  and  it  was  done  not  without 
a  prophetic  impulse,  by  which  they  knew  that  their  prayers  were 
heard,  and  that  the  Holy  Ghost  Avas  about  to  fall  on  the  indi-* 
vidual.  Their  wills  could  not  dictate  to  infinite  sovereignty. 
Their  power  could  not  regulate  the  operations  of  Omnipotence. 
They  could  not  give  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  divine  promise  had 
secured  the  possession  of  these  gifts  to  them  and  to  the  church. 
The  means  were  resorted  to  in  due  form,  and  it  was  while  in  the 
humble  and  devout  use  of  these  means,  that  the  Holy  Ghost,  in 
perfect  sovereignty,  "  came  on  the.m.'''"^  Man  had  no  higher 
agency  than  this :  and  it  was  Simon  Magus  only  who  had  con- 
ceived the  execrable  idea  that  the  apostles  had  the  supernatural 
gifts  at  their  command,  and  could,  at  their  pleasure,  by  the  act 
of  laying  on  their  hands,  confer  the  Holy  Ghost.f  Simon  Magus, 
therefore,  is  the  patron  of  this  doctrine,  that  men  could  baptize  with 
the  Holy  Ghost.  It  belongs  not  to  us.  It  is  no  part  of  the  code 
of  truth.  The  curse  of  St.  Peter  has  barred  it  from  the  sanc- 
tuary of  the  Lord ! 

This  is  the  amount  of  the  society's  objections  against  baptism. 
The  following  apology  for  our  holy  baptism  we  submit  to  the 
candour  of  those  of  the  society  who  have  the  courage  to  shake 
oft"  the  fetters  of  their  law,  which,  with  an  inquisitorial  spirit,  in- 
terdicts the  reading  of  all  books  not  of  their  index. 

The  origin  of  this  institution  is  not  to  be  traced  to  the  sprink- 
lings in  the  Jewish  church.  It  began  under  the  ministry  of  John 
the  baptist ;  and  he  belonged  not  to  the  dispensation  of  the  Old 
Testament,  but  to  that  of  the  New.^  He  announced  the  high 
authority  under  which  he  acted.  God  "  sent  me  to  baptize.'''  The 
word  of  God  came  unto  John.''  He  came  preaching  the  baptism  of 
repentance.§  This  baptism,  wc  have  shown,  was  different  from 
the  '^baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost.''     The  latter  did  not  take  place 

*  Acts  xix.  6.  t  See  Acts  viii.  17, 18,  and  xix-  6.  +  Mark  i, 

1,  2.        §  John  i.  33.     Luke  iii.  2,  3. 


256       Of  the  Defects  of  their  System  in  Point  of 

until  Pentecost.  But  Christ  and  his  disciples  "  made  and  bap- 
tized more  disciples  than  John ;"  even  in  the  lifetime  of  the  baptist.* 
Can  we  venture  to  suppose  the  disciples  did  take  on  them  to 
baptize  without  a  commission  from  our  Lord  ?t  Is  it  conceivable 
that  our  Lord  would  permit  it  without  a  rebuke?  Is  it  conceivable 
that  he  would  permit  his  own  servants  to  intrude  on  his  house  an 
institution  that  never  received  his  sanction  ?  No,  never.  They 
practised  it  under  his  eye.  He  "  made  and  baptized  disciples''^  by 
them.  He  gave,  therefore,  in  most  unequivocal  terms,  his  sanc- 
tion to  this  ordinance.  He  sealed  it  with  the  seal  of  heaven. 
Nothing  but  sheer  prejudice  of  sectarism  can  repel  the  evi- 
dence of  its  divine  origin  thus  spread  over  the  first  pages  of  the 
gospel. 

When  our  Lord  met  his  disciples,  previous  to  his  departure 
to  glory,  he  extended  their  commission.  "  Go  ye  into  all  the 
world  ;  teach  all  nations  ;  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
arid  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And,  Lo!  I  am  with  you 
always,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world.''"'  It  is  evident  that  he  extends 
the  commission  to  the  pastors  who  should,  in  continuous  succes- 
sion, officiate  in  his  house.  It  was  only  by  a  succession  of  pas- 
tors that  "  all  nations^^  could  be  taught,  and  baptized.|  To  his 
immediate  disciples,  and  to  their  successors  in  the  pastoral 
office,  therefore,  he  pledges  his  divine  presence  and  support  in 
their  official  duties.  •  And  these  duties  were  "  the  teaching  and 
haptizing  of  all  nations.''''  These  two,  we  have  shown,  cannot  be 
the  same  thing.  They  are  as  distinct  as  was  John's  preaching 
from  his  "  water  baptism.''''  And  the  distinction  is  founded  in 
common  sense.  It  is  obvious  to  the  mind  of  all  who  are  not  fet- 
tered down  by  a  system. 

But  the  promise  of  support  and  presence  by  our  Lord  extends 
to  his  servants  in  theii-  official  operations  among  all  nations :  and 
"  to  the  end  of  the  world.^^  Hence  the  holy  ordinance  of  baptism 
is  secured  to  the  church  in  perpetual  duration.  The  Lord 
Jesus  will  support  it  through  every  generation,  until  the  last 
trumpet  shall  announce  his  descent  to  the  general  judgment. 

♦  John  iii.  22,  andiv.  1,  2. 

f  The  leading  Quakers  have  always  asserted  in  positive  terms  that  they 
did  !   Pike  on  Baptism,  p.  23,  Lond.  1703. 

X  Either  their  successors  in  the  ministry  must  be  included,  or  the 
apostle^  must  have  been  supposed  to  live  to  "the  end  of  the  ivorld." 


Divine  Ordivances. — Baptism.  257 

It  is  mere  trifling  on  solemn  matters  to  say — and  yet  Bar- 
clay, their  measure  and  rule  of  orthodoxy,  does  say  it — that 
there  is  no  mention  of  "  wafer''''  in  that  commission  of  our  Lord 
to  us.*  When  "  John  was  sent  to  baptize"  there  was  no  "  men- 
tion of  water."  But  his  practice  was  a  plain  comment  on 
a  very  plain  term.  The  point  needs  no  laboured  arguments — 
no  profound  dissertations.  We  appeal  to  the  vocabulary  and 
the  lexicon  for  the  meaning  of  the  term.  We  have  the  literal 
meaning  of  it  fixed  by  all  Greece,  to  support  us.  If  any  other 
baptism  had  been  intended  by  our  Lord,  the  intentional  de- 
parture from  the  common  acceptation  of  the  word  would  have 
been  frankly  and  honestly  stated.  It  would  have  been  qualified 
by  some  terms.  It  would  have  been  qualified  by  the  words 
"  spirit,''^  and  '■'■  Jire.^''  Besides,  the  baptism  of  Christ's  disciples 
was  the  same  as  the  baptism  of  John.  And  John  baptized  with 
water.!     In  short,  to  no  other  baptism  can  the  words  of   the 

*  This  is  actually  found  in  Prop.  xii.  sect.  8.  p.  446. 

f  The  denying  of  this  would  not  matei-ially  affect  my  argument — yet 
I  must  say  a  few  words  in  support  of  the  identity  of  these  baptisms.  The 
baptism  of  John  and  tlie  baptism  of  Christ  were  the  same  in  their  di- 
vine origin  ;  and  the  same  as  it  respects  the  element,  and  tlie  mode  of 
applying  it.  In  both  the  parties  baptized  did  profess  their  faith  in  Christ. 
Acts  xix,  4.  arid  also  their  repentance.  Luke  iii.  3.  The  baptism  of 
John  was  the  baptism  of  the  gospel.  It  was  in  practice  after  "  the  be- 
ginning of  the  gospel."  Mark  i.  1.  It  testified  of  Christ  actually  come. 
The  prophets  prophesied,  and  the  ceremonial  law  now  in  foice  until 
John.  Matth.  xi.  13.  In  him  they  were  fulfilled.  And  in  hmi,  of  course, 
the  shadows  ceased.  Hence  it  is  obvious  that  Joim's  baptism  was  a  new 
Testament  rite.  But  the  baptism  of  the  New  Testament  "  is  one." 
Eph.  IV.  5.  Therefore  the  ba])tism  of  John  and  of  Christ  are  the  same. 
Some  critics  have  conceived  that  they  have  discovered  proofs  of  John's 
disciples  having  again  been  baptized.  But  there  is  no  evidence  ot  this  in 
the  New  Testamtnt.  In  Acts  xix.  v.  1,  6,  the  enquiry  which  St.  Paul 
made  of  the  disciples,  was  ?;o^  wliether  they  were  baptized,  but  whether 
"  theij  had  received  the  Holy  Ghost ;"  that  is,  in  his  miraculous  gifts, 
since  they  believed.  Water  baptism  was  not  the  subject  of  their  con- 
fei'ence.  And,  upon  hearing  their  answer  that  "  they  had  not  so  much 
as  heard  of  the  out-pouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Paul  laid  his  hands  on 
them,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  came  upon  them.  The  5th  verse  is  not  a 
part  of  the  narrative  of  St.  Luke.  It  is  the  continuation  of  St.  Paul's 
address.  It  contains  a  statement  of  John's  doctrine;  the  nature  of  his 
baptism  ;  and  what  his  disciples  did.  "  IV/ien  they"  the  disciples  of 
John,  ^"^ heard  this,"  i.  e  John's  doctrine  respecting  Christ,  "■  they  were 
baptized,"  i.  e.  by  John  "■in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ."  This  is  the 
opinion  of  the  ablest  critics  and  fathers  of  the  reformation.  Turretine 
on  the  identity  of  the  two  baptisms,  vol.  iii.  p.  444.  Bern,  de  Moore,  vol. 
V.  396-402.  vol.  vi.  802.  And  on  the  last  point  see  Tur.  hi.  p.  448.  Beza, 
Marnixius,  Cocceius,  &c.  I.  Mark,  Medul.  and  Comp.  in  B,  D.  Moore, 

36 


258       Of  the  Defects  of  their  System  in  Point  of 

commission  be  referred.  And,  least  of  all,  to  the  baptism  of  the 
Holj  Ghost.  Our  Lord,  and  none  but  he,  can  baptize  with  the 
Holy  Ghost.  He  could  not  permit — he  could  not  enjoin  his  dis- 
ciples to  encroach  on  his  own  preroa;ative.  He  could  not  lay 
on  them  the  burden  of  toiling  in  a  physical  impossibility  ! 

This  is  our  argument.  And  in  addition  to  this,  I  shall  add  a 
specimen  of  proof,  which  might  be  pursued  to  a  considerable 
length,  from  those  texts  which  convey  strong  assurances  of  the 
perpetual  obligations  of  baptism. 

1.  "  Except  a  man  be  born  of  the  water  and  of  the  spirit  he  can- 
not enter  the  kingdom  of  God.''''  To  be  "  born  of  the  spiriC  is  an 
expression  that  needs  no  explanation  here.  All  refer  it  to  the 
moral  change  of  the  heart  under  the  irresistible  energies  of  the 
spirit.  ""  To  be  born  of  the  water,''''  was  a  phrase  of  such  current 
use  among  the  Jews,  that  its  meaning  was  distinctly  understood 
by  every  one.  When  a  man  renounced  paganism  he  was  re- 
ceived into  the  community  of  the  church  by  baptism.  This  era 
was  to  him  the  commencement  of  a  new  life.  He  was  said  em- 
phatically "  to  be  born.''''  And  as  he  was  initiated  into  this  life  by 
baptism,  he  was  said,  by  a  most  natural  figure,  to  have  been 
"  born  of  water*''  when  he  was  baptized.*  Our  Lord,  therefore, 
declared,  in  language  familiar  to  his  audience,  and  very  intel- 
ligible to  us,  that  unless  we  be  baptized  ivith  water,  and  re- 
novated  by  the  Spirit^  we  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
The  first  is  the  necessary  means.  The  last  is  the  essential  quali- 
fication. 

2.  "  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved.'*''    According 

vol.  V.  p.  401,  &c.  who  gives  Mark's  ybwr  arguments  agamst  the  ana- 
bafitism  of  John's  disciples. 

Dilemma,  1.  If  the  baptism  of  John  was  not  the  baptism  of  the  New 
Testriment,  then  our  Lord  was  not  baptized — and  hence  he  wanted  that 
toward  the  New  Testament  church,  which,  by  circumcision,  he  had  to- 
•ward  the  Old  Testament  church. 

2.  Hence  the  argument  of  St.  Paul  is  enervated  "  one  Lord,  one  faith, 
one  b  ptism."  OurLoidhad  not  one  oi  the  bonds  of  union  and  com- 
munion said  here  to  exist  between  each  saint  and  himself. 

3.  Hence  there  can  be  no  meaning  in  our  Lord's  words  when  he  came 
to  he  baptized.  If  not  of  the  New  Testament,  it  could  not  be  a  part  of 
his  righteousness  to  be  fulfilled. 

•  Selden  Di  Tu.  Nat.  et  Gent.  p.  158,  159.  Edit.  166S.  Lightfoot,  vol. 
i.  p.  5-25  5:7.  Wall's  Hist,  of  Bap.  vol.  i.  Introd,  Lond.  1705.  Bennet's 
Confut.  Quak.  p.  27&. 


Divine  Ordinances. — Baptism.  259 

to  the  plain  and  literal  meaning  of  the  term,  the  baptism  here 
intended  is  the  baptism  of  water.  And,  as  our  Lord  establishes 
a  positive  and  moral  connexion  between  baptism  and  faith,  the 
one  shall  endure  as  long  as  the  other  shall  be  found  on  the 
earth. 

Again  :  To  enforce  the  duty  of  cultivating  union  and  peace -in 
the  church,  the  spirit  of  inspiration  has  placed  the  right  of  bap- 
tism by  the  side  of  faith  ;  and  thence  produces  a  powerful  mo= 
live  from  the  fact  that  these  are  common  to  all  true  christians. — 
"  Keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace.  There  is  one 
faith,  one  Lord,  one  baptism,^^  Now,  it  has  been  shown  that  this 
baptism  is  not  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is  baptism  by 
water — not  excluding,  as  already  explained,  the  inward  gracd 
thereby  signified.  The  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  his  mira- 
culous powers,  was  not  common  to  all.  It  was  conferred  on  a 
small  portion  of  the  members  of  the  church.  It  could  not,  with 
any  propriety,  be  adduced  as  an  argument  in  this  matter.  A 
particular  premise  cannot,  without  the  grossest  violation  of  the 
rules  of  sound  argument,  be  made  to  produce  a  general  con- 
clusion. But,  the  baptism  to  which  we  allude,  was  common  to 
every  christian.  Now,  it  is  the  unity  of  this  common  tie  that  is 
brought  to  enjoin  a  great  and  lasting  moral  duty.  And  it  is 
placed  by  the  side  of  faith,  for  this  moral  object.  Since,  there- 
fore, this  institution  is  ranked  with  faith,  and  is  employed  to  en- 
force a  moral  duty  of  perpetual  obligation,  it  is  a  fair  inference 
that  baptism,  like  faith,  shall  be  of  perpetual  existence  in  the 
church. 

Last — "  Ye  are  the  body  of  Christ,  and  -members  in  particular.'''' 
"  By  one  Spirit  are  zee  all  baptized  into  one  body."  The  first  truth 
established  here,  is,  "  that  Christ  and  believers  are  one  body."  The 
next  is,  that  there  is  a  double  bond  of  union.  The  spirit,  who 
was  given  to  our  Lord  without  measure,  rests  also  on  us.  This 
is  one  common  bond.  The  next  is  baptism,  by  which,  as  the 
means  of  divine  wisdom,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  conferred  on  us. 
This  baptism,  for  the  reasons  already  stated,  could  not  be  the 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  That  was  conferred  on  very  few. 
This  baptism  is  common  to  all  the  saints,  and,  hence  our  Lord 
was  baptized  with  water:  and  as  he  came  up  out  of  the  water 


260       Of  the  Defects  of  their  System  in  Point  of 

the  Holy  Spirit  descended  on  him.  Whosoever,  therefore,  has  not 
been  baptized  with  water,  is  not  baptized  as  our  Lord  was.  He  wants 
one  of  the  bonds  -ivkich  constitute  the  grand  union  of  the  body  mystical ! 
The  society  entrench  themselves  behind  the  argument,  that 
Christ  was  circumcised  ;  and,  if  we  must  be  baptized  because  he 
was  baptized,  we  must,  by  a  parity  of  reason,  be  circumcised. 
This  is  not  an  argument ;  it  is  not  even  an  objection.  It  is  a 
strong  auxiliary  to  our  argument.  Our  Lord  was  the  head  of 
his  body,  the  Old  Testament  church,  as  well  as  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament church.  Hence  he  was  circumcised.  For,  at  the  time 
of  his  incarnation,  it  is  evident,  that  "  circumcision  was  the  seal  of 
the  righteousness  of  faith.^'*  But,  as  the  Lord  of  his  church,  he 
introduced  the  new  dispensation,  with  all  its  peculiar  rites.  He 
abolished  the  ordinances  of  the  old  economy.  Baptism  has  as- 
sumed the  place  and  office  of  circumcision  5!  and  the  latter  has 
disappeared  for  ever. 

§  3.  The  Lord's  Supper.  "  Sacramenti  vcritatem  fraternitate 
omni  praesentecelebramus.-' — Cypr.  Epist.  63, p.  Ill,  folio,  1593. 
— The  besetting  sin  of  the  society  has  here  shown  itself  in  a  fresh 
sally  of  extravagance,  and  without  one  redeeming  quality. 

One  of  their  prophets,  Naylor,  while  as  yet  the  full  blossom 
of  his  honours  was  fresh  on  him,  and  before  the  nipping  frost  had 
withered  them  and  laid  them  low,  came  forward  into  the  midst 
of  his  sect,  and  boldly,  as  did  the  apostle  who  rebuked  the  Co- 
rinthian church,  pronounced  an  abolishing  inspiration  against 
the  Lord's  supper!  "  fVhat  I  have  received  of  the  Lord,  that  I  de- 
clare unto  you  ....  If  you  intend  to  sup  with  the  Lord,  or  to  shew 
the  Lord^s  death  until  he  come,  let  your  eating  and  drinking,  so  often 

*  Rom.  iv.  11. 

t  Coi.  ii.  11.  12 — Circumcision,  according  to  St.  Paul,  was  ^' the  seal 
of  the  righteoiimicss  of  fuit/i.'"  Rom.iv.  11.  '■'■  The  Lord  thy  God  will 
circumcise  thine  heart,  cr'c-"  Deiit.  xxx-  6.  It  actually,  therefore,  did 
represent,  apply,  and  seal  to  the  ancimt  worshipper  that  which  baptism 
does  represent,  apply,  and  seal  to  us  under  the  New  Testament. 

If  there  be  no  ordinance  substituted  to  us  and  to  our  children,  in  the' 
room  of  circumcision,  we  want  an  important  means  of  grace  which  the 
Jew  and  his  children  had  :  and  our  children  must  be  deemed  to  be  un- 
churched— cut  off  from  that  membership  in  the  church  into  which  they 
we'e  introduced  by  God  in  the  Abrahanuc  covenant.  Gen.  xvii.  7,  10. 
And  hence  our  privileges,  under  this  superior  dispensation,  must  be  ac- 
tually abridged ! 


Divine  Ordinances. — The  Lord's  Suppei\       261 

as  you  do  it,  be  in  remembrance  of  him — that  at  death  you  may  wit- 
ness against  excess.  This  is  to  have  communion  with  his  body  and 
blood?'"' 

What  degree  of  credence  the  society  vouchsafed  to  the  divini- 
ty of  this  message,  I  shall  not  stop  to  enquire.  It  is  too  evident 
that  they  have  obeyed  that  Python  in  this  particular,  rather  than 
the  apostle  Paul,  or  even  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

That  stretch  of  power  which  the  primitive  Friends  exercised 
from  a  long  line  of  mystic  predecessors,  and  by  which  they 
struck  from  its  place  the  holiest  rite  of  Christianity,  was  followed 
by  another  equal  in  boldness.  That  w  as  the  substitution  of  the 
mystic  supper  in  the  place  of  the  Lord's  supper.  The  folloAV- 
ing  outline  of  this  unearthly  thing  is  from  the  tedious  pag€s  of  the 
apologist.  Christ  has  two  bodies ;  the  outward  body,  and  the 
spiritual  body :  each  of  these  is  called  Christ.  The  spiritual 
body  was  veiled  under  the  figures  of  the  Old  Testament;  it  was 
also  veiled,  in  some  respects,  under  the  body  of  Christ  w  hile  on 
earth.t  This  spiritual  body  is  clothed  with  light;  and  he  has 
poured  out  into  the  hearts  of  all  men  a  measure  of  that  light  by 
which  he  is  clothed.  This  light  within  is  that  body  and  blood 
on  which  they  feed  ;|  and  their  act  of  feeding  on  it,  is  their  act 
of  "  introversion."  Their  souls  retire  inward  upon  the  light,  and 
sweetly  partake  of  the  life  there.  And  this  is  done  as  often  as 
they  meet  in  their  assemblies  ;§  or  oftener,  if  they  choose  "  to  in- 
trovert^^ upon  the  resources  with  which  their  souls  arc  richly 
gifted ! 

This  extravagance  has  put  forth  its  desolating  power  over  the 
whole  sect;  it  has  generated  that  furious  zeal  against  the  Lord's 
supper,  which  has  no  parallel  in  the  annals  of  sectarian  violence: 
it  has  made  the  zealot  forget  the  common  decencies  which  man 
ow^es  to  man  ;  it  has  made  him  denounce  our  holy  supper  as  use- 
less, and  even  hurtful ;  it  has  made  him  curse  it  as  the  betrayer 
which  bids  man  away  from  the  Christ  within  them  to  the  Christ 
without :  from  the  light  within  to  the  Christ  on  the  throne  of  glory 
in  the  heavens.|| 

•  See  this  specimen  of  bathos  and  impudence  in  Xaylor's  "  Love  to  the 
Lost,""  p.  43,  44,  45,  old  edition,  and  Stalham,  p.  192,  No.  480,  quai  to. 
Phil.  Library. 

t  Bar.  Ap.  Prop.  13,  sect.  2,  p.  463  and  464.  %  Do.  sect.  2,  pp. 

464,  465,         §  Do.  p.  467.        8  "  The  Presbyterians  and  In dc fiend cniti 


262         Of  the  Defects  of  their  Sijstem  in  Point  of 

1.  The  first  error  of  the  society,  and  that  which  has  poured 
the  virulent  poison  into  all  parts  of  the  system,  having  been  neu- 
tralized, and  with  it  the  defence  set  up  in  behalf  of  this  mystic 
supper,*  all  that  remains  is  "bald,  unjointed  talk;"  wherein  a 
masked  hostility,  yet  wilful,  and  without  a  redeeming  quality  of 
candour,  or  of  argument,  puts  forth  its  feeble  and  ill-combined 
powers  against  the  holy  supper  of  the  Lord. 

For  instance :  In  the  first  place,  this  ordinance,  they  say,  has. 
more  than  any  other,  excited  violent  and  bloody  contentions. 1 
And  therefore,  good  natured  men !  they  would  bury  it  in  its 
bloody  grave,  with  all  the  mischief  created  by  it ! — It  never  merit- 
ed this  from  the  tongue  of  slander ;  it  is  the  ordinance  of  the  «jod 
of  peace;  it  is  the  feast  of  love  and  unity  among  brethren.  If 
disputes  have  existed  respecting  it,  was  it  the  cause  ?  U  hich  of 
the  holiest  doctrines  of  divine  revelation  have  not  been  rudely 
impugned  ?  Had  sectarians  not  polluted  the  threshold  of  the 
church,  these  disputes  had  never  existed.  Had  the  mystics  not 
entered  the  lists,  the  feelings  of  the  church  had  been  spared  the 
rudest  violence  ever  offered  to  the  holy  sacraments ! 

2.  They  bring  forward  their  feelings  as  the  standard  of  ortho- 
dox3%  "  God  withholds  not  his  hidden  manna  from  W5,"  say  they, 
" /ze  dailij  ou-ns  us  hy  his  presence  in  the  omission  of  this.'''\  If  there 
had  been  either  propriety  or  orthodoxy  in  this  language,  it  cer- 
tainly had  been  adopted  by  the  apostles  at  that  most  proper  time 
for  bringing  it  forward — I  mean  when  they  reclined  beside  their 
Lord,  under  the  beams  of  his  presence,  during  the  first  supper. 
But,  though  they  had  the  benefit  of  his  presence,  they  did 
not  bring  forward  this  objection ;  they  did  not  adduce  anj" 
real  or  fictitious  privilege  to  suspend  the  force  of  a  positive  insti- 
tution. They  did  not  adduce  feelings  and  sentimentalism  to  re- 
lax the  obligation  of  a  positive  divine  command.  '"God owns  us 
in  our  own  way — in  the  omission  of  this  supper  P''  This  is  what  the 
wild  Arab  of  the  desert  says,  while  he  frowns  on  the  Nazarene ; 

feed  on  the  refiort  of  a  thi7ig  done  many  hundred  years  ago  "  Burroughs' 
Trumpet,  p.  17.  Pcnn  vol.  ii.  p.  279.  "  Their  communion  is  tkecii/i  and 
table  of  de-i'ils."  G.  Fox's  '•  Iscws  coming  up  out  of  die  North/'  p.  14. 
Bugg's  Pict.  of  Quak.  p.  151. 

*  See  the  Part  ii.  ch.  1,  on  Immediate  Revelations.  f  Bar.  Ap.  Prop. 
13,  sect.  4,  p.  470.  %  That  is,  the  Lord's  Supper.  See  "  Brief  Apolo- 
gy for  tfie  Quakers."  Dubl.  edit.  p.  62. 


Divine  Ordinances. — The  Lord's  Supper.       263 

or  with  fitful  devotion  applies  himself  to  his  ablutions  with  sand, 
in  the  lack  of  water,  according  to  the  Koran.  This  is  what  the 
Catholic  says,  while,  with  '"'  lack  lustre  ft/e,"  he  counts  his  beads, 
or  lacerates  his  body  most  piously  with  the  sanctified  scourge; 
or  crawls  heaven-ward  on  his  naked  knees,  up  the  stairs  of  Saint 
Peter!  '"'' God  owns  us  in  our  own  way,  in  the  omission  of  this  T* 
And  so  exclaims  the  moody-brained  deist,  while  he  closes  his 
phrenzied  eye  against  the  holy  beams  of  truth,  and  plunges  into 
the  gloom  and  hopelessness  of  paganism  !  These,  amid  the  wide 
diversity  of  system  and  character,  do  all  agree  marvellously  in 
the  conspiracy  against  heaven's  will ;  and  with  inimitable  self- 
complacency,  they  graduate  their  orthodoxy  on  the  scale  of  their 
individual  feelings ! 

3.  Guided  by  the  principles  of  the  mystic  interpretation,  they 
bring  forward  expositions  of  plain  texts  capricious  and  even  gro- 
tesque. 

When  the  terms  "  bread''''  and  "  wme"  and  "  a/^,"  meet  our  eye 
in  such  passages  of  holy  writ  as  these  :  "  The  cup  of  blessing  which 
we  bless  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ :  the  bread 
which  we  break  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  body  of  Christ  /"'  we 
are  to  be  on  our  guard  against  the  natural  import  and  common 
acceptation  of  the  word;  we  are  to  take  care  lest  we  be  deceived 
by  too  much  plainness  of  diction;  we  are  not  to  refer  such  terms 
to  the  outward  cup,  and  the  outward  bread.  No — they  mean  the 
inward  cup — they  mean  the  inward  bread.  It  is  the  mystic  sup- 
per to  which  they  refer.* 

When  these  terms  are  indeed  taken  in  a  figure,  we  shall  find 
our  authority  distinctly  in  the  context,  or  in  the  passage  itself. 
We  shall  thence  be  able  clearly  to  make  it  out  that  it  were  ab- 
surd to  take  them  in  the  literal  sense.  Not  to  be  guided  by  this 
rule  is  to  become  Don  Quixotes  in  theology,  or  Origens  outright ! 

The  eccentricities  of  human  nature  have  been  developed  more 
strikingly  in  religion,  perhaps,  than  in  politics,  or  in  science,  or 
even  in  knight  errantry  itself.  In  their  displays  on  the  field  of 
religion,  they  have  bid  defiance  to  grave  reason,  to  ridicule,  to 
scorn.  In  a  thousand  new  modifications  they  have  exercised 
human  patience  and  forbearance.     ''  There  is  nothing  the  most 

♦  Bar.  Ap.  Prop.  13,  sect.  5,  p.  475. 


201       Of  the  Defects  of  their  System  in  Point  of 

absurd  which  has  not  been  iiUered  bj  some  philosopher."  There 
is  nothing  the  most  eccentric  which  some  soi-disant  theologician 
has  not  (Quixote  like)  maintained,  even  at  the  peril  of  life  and 
limb.  Even  novices  in  theology  have  ceased  to  marvel.  But 
this  novel  commentary  on  the  mystic  supper  will  move  the  most 
rigid  muscles.  Barclay,  and  those  who  have  kept  Barclay 
afloat,  do  make  St.  Paul,*  by  a  singular  process  of  mysticism,  to 
pour  out  the  "  internal  lighP''  or  the  "  inward  Chris f^  into  a  cup ; 
to  bless  it ;  to  fix  it  down  by  hands  more  subtle  than  those  of  any 
chemical  operator;  to  break  it;  and  to  distribute  it  to  the  peo- 
ple !  Verily,  may  the  veteran  polemic  exclaim,  after  casting  his 
eyes  over  the  wide  field  of  ancient  and  modern  heresies,  the 
authors  of  this  same  mystic  interpretation  have  distanced  all  the 
spirits  that  ever  descended  into  the  race  of  absurdities.  Saccas 
and  Origen,  Jemima  and  Johanna,  are  thrown  fairly  into  the 
rear,  and  are  unhorsed. 

"  Cedite  Romani  doctores,  cedite  Graii." 

4.  The  society  has  always  considered  it  a  leading  error  of 
the  church,  that  "  she  ties  the  participation  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  to  the  ceremony  of  using  bread  and  wine  f'  and  they  insist 
*'  that,  as  the  ancient  prophets  did  partake  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  without  this  ceremony,  and  as  others  may,  in  like  manner,  en- 
joy the  thing  signifed,  the  ceremony  ought  to  be  dispensed  with.'t 

But  if  the  holy  supper  be  the  institution  of  our  Lord,  and  if 
lie  has  constituted  really  a  sacramental  union  between  the  sign 
and  the  thing  thereby  signified,^  then,  in  all  ordinary  cases,  we 
may  not  rationally  expect  the  communion  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  the  Lord  without  the  instituted  means.  In  extraordinary 
eases,  we  admit,  God  will  bestow  it  on  those  who  may  not  have 
access  to  the  ordinary  means.  But  He  alone  is  judge  of  those 
cases.  We  cannot  be  supposed  to  derive  any  authority  from 
these  extraordinary  dispensations,  to  set  aside  the  ordinary 
means  of  salvation.  The  Almighty  fed  Israel  with  manna  in  the 
desert.     May  we  venture  to  convert  this  into  an  argument  for 

*  In  the  above  recited  vei'se  from  1  Cor.  x.  16. 
t  Bar.  Apol.  Prop.  13,  p.  471,  473. 

X  Sec  in  the  second  division  of  this  article  at  obs.  6,  in  defence  of  the 
holy  supper. 


Divine  Ordinances. — The  Lord's  Supper.      265 

indolence,  and  thereby  paralyze  the  arm  of  industry?  May  we 
fold  our  hands  with  the  sluggard,  and  raise  our  eyes  to  heaven 
for  manna  ? 

As  it  respects  the  members  of  the  ancient  Jewish  church,  let 
it  be  observed,  (hat  they  very  evidently  had  their  solemn  feast 
on  their  sacrifices,  particularly  on  "  the  Lamb  of  the  passover ;'''' 
and,  that  this  was  not  merely  a  custom  commemorative  of  their 
escape  from  Egypt,*  but  that  the  same  divine  object  of  faith  was, 
by  this  means,  presented  to  them  which  is  presented  to  us  in  the 
holy  supper,  we  have  the  most  positive  assurance.  Christ  is 
'■'  tlbc  Lamb  of  God,'^  And  "  Christ  our  passover  is  sacrificed  for 
«5."t  The  only  point  of  dilfcrence  between  the  two  lies  in  this. 
The  fathers,  devoutly  participating  of  the  paschal  feast,  looked 
forward,  through  the  revolving  ages,  to  the  sacrifice  about  to  be 
offered  up  by  the  Messiah.  We,  guided  by  the  symbolical  in- 
structions of  our  sacrament,  look  back  over  the  revolutions  of 
ages,  to  him  who  was  actually  sacrificed  for  us  on  the  top  of 
Calvary. 

5.  In  the  apostolic  age,  when  the  ceremonial  laws  were  gra- 
dually giving  way  before  the  rising  glorj^  of  the  Christian  dis- 
pensation, our  Lord  granted  certain  indulgences  to  the  weak- 
nesses of  the  Jewish  converts.  He  indulged  them  in  the  ancient 
rites  of  "  abstaining  from  meats^'''  and  of  observing  "  holy  days.^'' 
But  the  indulgence  was  not  extended  to  their  posterity,  nor  was 
it  claimed  by  them.  The  law  which  established  the  new  insti- 
tutions clearly  abolished  the  old.  The  apostles  asserted  their 
christian  liberty,  and  warmly  opposed  them  who  wished  to  bring 
back  on  the  church  the  rites,  the  abstinence  from  meats,  the 
holy  days  of  the  Jewish  church.  The  epistles  of  Paul  abound 
with  precepts  and  remonstrances  on  this  subject.  But  who,  that 
lays  claims  to  accuracy  on  first  jH'inciples,  could  confound  the 
institutions  of  the  new  economj^  with  the  rites  of  the  old  ?  Who 
can  permit  themselves  to  act  so  absurdly  as  to  rank  among  the 
ancient  Jewish  rites  the  holy  supper  which  had  not  its  existence 
in  the  times  of  the  Old  Testament?  or,  who  can  permit  himself 
to  quote  against  a  christian  ordinance  the  canons  which  abolishedl 

*  As  Barclay  has  ventured  to  assert.     Apol.  p.  475- 
t  John  i.  29.     1  Cor,  v.  7. 

37 


266       Of  the  Defects  of  their  System  in  Faint  of 

the  Jewish  ceremonies  ?  It  was  reserved  for  the  writers  of  the 
society  of  Friends  to  be  guilty  of  all  this  !* 

6.  They  insist  that  the  holy  supper  was  a  certain  Jewish  ce- 
remony attending  the  passover  ;  that  Jesus  complied  with  it;  and 
that  the  primitive  christians  being  chiefly  Jews,  did,  for  some 
time,  observe  it.t  This  is  a  gratuitous  assertion  of  the  apologist. 
No  one  passage  can  be  brought  from  holy  writ  to  support  it.  The 
law  which  ordained  the  passover  makes  no  mention  of  any  such 
appendage.     The  Old  Testament  is  silent  on  the  subject. 

But  the  learned  man  is  not  to  be  put  otf.  He  does  find  au- 
thority. He  plunges  into  the  oblivion  of  unfortunate  authors,  and 
drags  up  a  certain  Pauhis  Riccius.  His  black  letter  proofs  he 
thinks  to  be  decisive  on  the  matter.  He  enlightens  the  world 
by  the  discovery  that  this  surely  was  a  Jewish  ceremony.  But 
whence  has  this  oracle,  this  Paulus  Riccius  derived  his  illumina- 
tion ?  From  no  other  source,  verily,  than  the  writers  of  the  Jew- 
ish Talmud  ;  and  these,  as  all  the  world  knows,  wrote  after  the 
destruction  of  their  city  and  nation.  If  the  apocryplial  authors, 
with  all  the  advantages  which  may  be  supposed  to  have  arisen 
from  their  national  privileges  and  valuable  materials,  are  so  in- 
sipid, and  brainless,  and  fabulous,  what  can  we  expect  from  those 
men  who  wrote  long  after  the  destruction  of  their  temple,  and 
who  were  not  even  permitted  to  grub  out  documents  and  mate- 
rials from  the  ruins  of  their  capital.]:  And,  moreover,  they  wrote 
avowedly  to  the  prejudice  of  Christianity.  They  abound  with 
palpable  errors,  and  with  puerile  fables.§  Their  authority  is  of 
no  weight  in  history.  Their  judgment  is  of  no  importance  on 
any  article  that  relates  to  the  name  and  institutions  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

Yet,  after  all,  if  any  Friend,  learned  in  the  HebrcAV  and  the 
Talmud,  shall  be  conscientiously  scrupulous  for  the  authority  of 

*  Hence  the  irrelevancy  of  Barclay's  objections  against  the  sacrament, 
taken  from  Rom.  xiv.  17.    Colos.  ii.  16.     Apol.  Prop.  13,  sect.  5,  9. 

f  Bar.  Apol.  Prop.  13,  sect.  6,  p.  480. 

X  See  Mosh.  Chron.  Tables  Cent.  iii.  Buck's  Theol.  Diet.  Art.  Tal- 
mud, who  quotes  the  unanimous  testimony  of  the  Jews, "  that  the  Mishna 
or  text  oj  the  Talmud  was  written  at  the  close  of  the  seco?id  century.'''' 
Prideavix  places  it  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century.  Connect,  vol. 
iii.  447. 

§  The  plain  reader  may  see  a  fair  specimen  in  Buck's  Theol.  Diet,  at 
the  article  Talmud. 


Divine  Ordinances. — The  Lord's  Supper,      267 

these  same  Talmuds,  we  can  afford  to  give  up  all  this — and  we 
have  no  great  zeal  on  the  matter.  We  may,  in  fact,  admit  all 
that  Barclay  and  his  Paulus  Riccius  have  asserted,  that  there 
was  a  supper  of  bread  and  wine  attached  to  the  passover.  This 
is  wholly  irrelevant  in  their  argument,  and  it  touches  not  our  ar- 
gument. "  What  we  are  to  look  to,  is  Christ's  practice ;  and  we 
are  sure  that  that  should  oblige  us  more  than  the  Jewish  practice 
should  oblige  Christ."* 

Lastly.  "  The  washing  of  the  disciples'  feet  has  been  as  posi- 
tively enjoined  by  Christ  as  the  supper ;  and  yet  that  has  been 
set  aside :  why  then  is  the  supper  retained  ?"t 

In  the  eastern  world  custom  had  established  the  practice  of 
using  no  other  covering  for  the  feet  than  sandals :  the  climate 
was  extremely  warm.     At  the  close  of  the  day  it  was  the  office 
of  the  host  to  afford  his  guests  the  means  of  "  washing  tJieir  feet.^^ 
It  was  in  all  private  families  deemed  an  act  of  kindness  to  bathe 
the  feet  of  the  traveller;  it  had  certainly  been  the  practice  of  all 
ranks  from   time  immemorial  to  do  so.     And  the  service  "of 
washing  the  feet"  belonged  alone  to  the  domestics  of  the  family. ''^l 
Our  Lord,  after  the  first  supper,  in  order  to  give  his  disciples  a 
lesson  of  humility,  and  to  impress  on  their  minds  the  remem- 
brance of  that  law  which  constituted  a  perfect  equality  among 
all  the  members  of  the  ministerial  office,  actually  condescended 
to  do  what  the  menial  servants  of  the  family  would  otherwise 
certainly  have  done.     He  did  not  originate  the  custom  "  of  wash- 
ing the  feet  -^^  he  introduced  no  new  rite ;  he  employed  no  mystic 
signs  ;  he  simply  placed  himself  in  the  servant's  stead — and  act- 
ing as  a  menial  servant,  he  taught  them  a  most  impressive  lesson 
of  humility,  and  of  brotherly  love  and  sympathy.     He  has  left 
us  no  precept  that  these  should  be  expressed  positively  by  "  the 
washing  of  each  other's  feet  ;^^  and  there  is  no  injunction  "  to  wash 
each  other's  feet ^''  until  he  '"''come  again,'*''     To  relieve  and  comfort 
the  brethren,  is  a  duty  of  perpetual  obligation ;  as  to  the  manner 
of  doing  this  most  effectually,  it  is  left  to  all  christians  to  do  it 
according  to  their  national  forms  and  customs ;  and  these  forms 
and  customs  are  left  untouched  by  the  Spirit  of  revelation,  as  are 

*  Brown  of  Wamphry  against  Barclay.  f  Bar.  Apol.  Prop.  13,  sect. 
6,  p.  481.  +  Harmer's  Observations,  &c.  and  Paxton's  Illustrations 
vol.  ii.  p.  342,  343,  Phil.  edit.  Burder's  Oriental  Customs,  No.  611,  612 


268        Of  the  Defects  of  their  Si/stem  in  Point  of 

the  lans^uages  and  forms  of  government  of  respective  nations. 
The  laws  of  Divine  Providence  here  bear  sway.  The  kingdom 
of  grace  has  not  put  forth  a  single  injunction  on  the  matter. 

But  the  severity  of  the  apologist  has  exposed  his  sect  to  re- 
taliation. If  this  ancient  practice  of  "  washing  the.  fed''^  he  suf- 
ficient in  their  estimation  to  establish  among  the  moderns  of  the 
West  the  Oriental  custom  "  of  washing  the  feel,''''  pra}",  why  has 
not  the  zeal  of  the  societj-,  like  that  of  their  Pennsylvanian 
neighbours,  the  Dunkers,  introduced  it  into  the  number  of  their 
forms?  If  they  can  see,  so  clearly,  its  positive  institution,  will 
our  ne"-ligence,  in  this  particular,  atone  for  their  criminality  in 
rejecting  both  the  holy  supper  and  the  washing  the  disciples' 
feet  ? 

We  have,  however,  a  more  serious  objection  than  what  grows 
out  of  their  inconsistency.  Had  our  Lord  ordained  "  the  zmshing 
offeet^^  as  a  religious  ordinance,  we  should  have  had  two  sacra- 
mental washings  with  water.  And,  each  of  them,  as  must  be 
evident  to  every  Friend,  signifying  the  same  thing,*  one  of 
them  must  be  superfluous  :  and  evidently  that  one  which  has  not, 
as  baptism  has,  a  precept  enforcing  a  perpetual  observance. 

Such  is  the  whole  plan  of  attack  on  this  most  holy  institution  :  an 
attack  planned  in  the  maudlin  brains  of  Fox  ;  matured  by  Penn ; 
and  executed  by  Barclay. 

"  Sic  fatus  senior,  telumque  imbelle,  sine  ictu 

"  Conjecit."  Virg. 

The  whole  materiel  of  the  force  brought  forward  is  evidently 
borrowed.!     But  the  principles  and  suggestions  of  Grotius  are 

*  Bernard  I)e  Moor,  vol.  v.  p.  328. 

■j-  1  am  sorr\  to  say  from  Grotius — whose  unguarded  principles  have 
invited  the  sectarian  to  an  impious  daring  in  this  matter,  which  none 
■would  have  lamented  more  sincerely  than  the  learned  man.  Grotius, 
while  residing  at  the  court  of  France,  as  Swedish  ambassador,  wrote  his 
book,  "  De  coena  adjnini-straiida  ubi  non  fiantores  sunt  ;  an  semper 
communkanda  jicr  syjubola." 

The  Icarnerl  man's  errors  in  doctrine  had  drawn  down  on  him  a  sen- 
tence of  expulsion  from  the  reformed  church.  The  Lutheran  church 
had,  for  the  same  reason,  shut  her  doors  against  him.  The  remonstrants 
had,  at  that  lime,  no  pastors,  and  no  communion.  In  this  untoward  com- 
bination of  circumstances,  which  created  no  ordinary  temptation  to  mo- 
del his  creed  ac(  ording  to  his  present  feelings,  he  offered  his  plea  that 
the  pastor  was  not  essentially  necessary  to  the  right  celebration  of  the 
Lord's  supper.    And  that  it  was  not  necessary  that  the  external  symbols 


Divine  Ordinances. — The  Lord's  Siipjper.       269 

set  forth  in  all  the  threatening  array  of  syllogisms,  pursued 
through  all  the  figures  and  moods  and  categories  of  Aristotle — 
and  in  a  style  of  bold  execution  which  might  add  a  sprig  of 
laurel  to  the  immortality  of  the  Stagirite.  Nor  is  this  all.  He 
has  contrived  to  render  his  dogmata,  in  a  manner,  inaccessible, 
by  throwing  around  them  the  ponderous  circumlocutions  of  the 
leaden  age  of  Fox,  and  by  shedding  over  them  the  narcotic 
influence  of  mysticism,  which  no  assailant  can  approach  without 
feeling  their  soporiferous  influence  creeping  over  all  his  senses! 

II.  We  now  invite  the  society's  politeness  to  the  apology  of 
ihe  church  in  behalf  of  her  solemn  festival. 

1.  The  first  holy  supper  was  an  institution  distinct  from  the 
passover. 

In  the  passover,  the  flesh  of  the  paschal  lamb,  and  unleavened 
bread  w.ere  used — wine  also  was  added.*  Some  of  the  learnedj 
have  been  of  opinion  that  in  this  ceremony  there  was  a  double 
supper :  that  in  the  first  the  paschal  lamb  was  eaten,  and  in  the 
second  the  unleavened  bread :  and  the  last  was  by  our  Lord 
converted  into  the  holy  supper.  Others  admit  the  double  sup- 
per of  the  paschal  lamb  and  of  the  unleavened  bread  ;  but  contend 
that  our  holy  institution  was  added  by  our  Lord  as  the  third  and 
distinct  supper. J  But  our  divines  have  shown  from  the  authentic 
records  of  the  Jews  "  that  the  paschal  lamb  was  the  last  thing 
eaten  in  the  passover ;  and  that  the  whole  rite  was  closed  by  the 
paschal  cup  passing  round  the  company."§  There  was,  there 
fore,  no  room  for  the  second  supper. 


should  be  used-  In  other  words  the  learned  man  reasoned  that  symbolical 
mstruction  might  be  effected  without  the  use  of  symbols.  His  ingenious 
triflings  have  been  revived  by  Penn  and  Bai'chiy.  See  Voet.  Polit. 
Eccles.  vol.  i.  p.  764.  Cloppenburgh  has  refuted  Grotius  in  his  Disp 
Sel.  Theol.  4.  Oper.  Tom.  i.  p.  592,  598.  See  Bernard  De  Moor,  vol- 
V.  p.  665.  Grotius  wrote  in  Latin,  A.  D.  1638.  Barclay  published  his 
Apology  in  Latin,  A.  D.  1676,  some  time  after  his  return  from  the  Scotch 
college  of  Paris. 

*  See  Luke  xxii.  18,  and  Talmud  Tract.  De  Sab.  fol.  11,  quoted  by 
Witsius  Oecon.  Fed.  vol.  ii.  ch.  17,  p.  448. 

t  Scaliger  De  Emend.  Temp.  Lib.  vii.  571,  and  Bern.  De  Moor.  Per- 
pet.  Com.  vol.  V.  p.  321.         %  Maldonatus  and  Grotius  De  Coena  Dom. 

§  Calvin  De  Cxn.  Dom.  Buxtorf.  Ad  Histor.  Instit.  S.  Ccenje  Dom. 
sect.  14.  Leusd.  Phil.  Hebrceo-mixt.  Dissert.  38,  Qusest.  6.  Goodwin's 
Moses  and  Aaron,  book  iii.  ch.  4,  sect.  21,  22. Bern.  DeMoorPei'p.  com. 
vol.  V.  p.  321,  322. 


270        Of  the  Defects  of  their  System  in  Point  of 

And  it  is  made  evident  to  a  demonstration  from  the  sacred 
narrative*  that  this  was  the  order  observed  in  the  first  holy  sup- 
per. Ailer  they  had  eaten  the  passover,  and  after  the  paschal 
cup  "  had  been  taken  and  divided  among  them^^  our  Lord  "  took 
bread,^^  and  "  he  took  the  ciip,''^  and  instituted  another  supper :  it 
was,  therefore,  most  evidently  no  part  of  the  passover ;  but  it  was 
as  evidently  something  substituted  in  its  place.  "  Do  this,''"'  said 
our  Lord,  "  do  this  in  remembrance  of  me.'''' 

2.  This  supper  is  something  entirely  distinct  from  the  agape 
or  love  feasts.  It  is  not  quite  evident  that  these  feasts,  though 
observed  by  the  primitive  christians,  were  of  divine  appointment. 
The  first  mention  of  them  we  find  in  that  early  period  of  Chris- 
tianity when  the  disciples  had  all  things  in  common.!  The  wants 
of  the  poor  were  relieved  by  the  bounties  of  the  rich ;  tables  were 
spread  for  them  in  the  places  of  public  worship,  that  their  devo- 
tion might  be  accompanied  by  active  charity.  These  feasts 
originally  preceded  the  eating  of  the  Lord''s  supper.| 

Jn  a  following  age  when  the  abuses  that  had  crept  into  the 
agape,  became  flagrant  in  the  church,  the  council  that  met  at 
Carthage  decreed  that  these  feasts  should  be  kept  after  the  Lord's 
sapper.  § 

But  ds  these  abuses  could  not  be  prevented  while  the  occasions 
of  tem.ptation  existed,  the  love  feasts  were  formally  abohshed  by 
a  canon  of  the  council  of  Laodicea.||  On  the  whole,  the  follow- 
ing two  points  are  established  respecting  the  love  feasts.     1.  It 

♦  Of  Luke  xxii.  18,  &c.  f  Acts  ii.  44,  45,  ch.  iv.  62,  84.  Spanhem. 
Sac.  et.  Eccles.  Hist.  p.  620,  folio. 

+  1  Cor.  xi.  20,  22.  The  Corinthians  had  committed  a  double  abuse 
in  their  agape.  The  rich  did  indeed  bring  with  them  the  materiel o{  the 
feast ;  but  instead  of  yielding  to  the  tender  sympathies  of  charity,  and 
spreading  a  table  for  their  poor  brethren,  previous  to  their  associating  at 
tlie  table  of  their  Lord,  they  appropriated  the  whole  to  their  own  gratifi- 
cation ;  and  while  their  brethren  "  were  hungry ^^  they  "  were  drunken  " 
The  apostle  applies  to  them  the  severe  and  just  discipline  of  God's  house, 
charging  them  not  only  with  this  shocking  abuse,  but  with  profaning  the 
table  of  the  Lord,  and  thereby  "  eating  and  drinking  damnation  to  tliem- 
selves."  He  thus  makes  it  evident  that  the  church  united  these  two,  and 
that  the  love  feast  preceded  the  holy  supper. 

§  "  Sacramenta  altaris  nonnisi  a  jejunis  hominibus  celebrarentur." 
Canon  4  of  the  council  of  Carthage,  held  in  the  reign  of  Aurelian,  towards 
the  close  of  the  third  centurv,  before  A.  D.  275.  See  Turret,  vol.  iii. 
p.  476. 
II  "Aon  ofiortet  in — Ecclesiafacere  agafias,  et  in  domo  Dei  manducare'" 
Canon  28,  as  quoted  by  Turret,  vol.  iii.  p.  476. 


Divine  Ordinances.— 'Tlie  Lord^s  Supper.      271 

is  not  evident  that  they  were  ordained  by  our  Lord.  2.  And 
when  kept  they  were  always  followed  or  preceded  by  the  Lord's 
supper.* 

3.  The  holy  supper  was  instituted  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
The  passover  having  been  eaten,  and  the  cup  having  been  dis- 
tributed among  the  disciples,!  this  Jewish  ordinance  was  finished, 
and  it  was  not  to  be  resumed;  it  had  accomplished  its  end;  it 
was  but  the  type.  It  had  for  ages  set  before  the  church  the 
prophecy  of  the  coming  Messiah ;  it  had  been  annually  reiterat- 
ing the  consoling  promise :  "  Behold  the  lamb  of  God  is  coming," 
He  was  come  whom  it  had  been  so  long  announcing ;  the  glory 
of  the  antitype  filled  the  church ;  the  type  was  lost  in  the  glori- 
ous vision — and  to-morrow's  sun  was  to  reveal  to  the  Jewish  na- 
tion their  Messiah  suspended  on  the  cross;  and  as  the  passover 
could  only  speak  of  him  as  coming,  it  could  no  longer  utter  its 
voice  without  misleading  the  church. 

But  the  new  dispensation  was  not  to  be  inferior  in  any  respect 
to  the  old.  Now  the  old  had  never  been  without  an  institution 
of  wisdom  to  direct  the  church  to  her  coming  Lord.  The  goodness 
of  God  could  not  permit  her  to  remain  without  an  institution  as 
well  calculated,  at  least,  to  commemorate  the  advent  and  death 
of  her  Lord.  Hence  the  Lord  of  the  passover  having  withdrawn 
it,  ordained  another  in  its  stead.  "  Ow  Lord  took  bread  and  bless- 
ed it,  and  brake  it,  and  gave  it  to  the  disciples,  saying,  take,  eat ;  this 
is  my  body  given  for  you — this  do  in  remembrance  of  me.  Likewise 
also  the  cup  after  supper,  saying,  this  cup  is  the  new  testament  in  my 
blood,  which  is  shed  for  you — drink  ye  all  ofit.^^'t  And  the  solemn 
service  was  closed  with  singing  a  hymn.  Thus  by  the  highest 
authority  this  holy  institution  was  delivered  to  the  church ;  thus 
by  precept  and  by  example  its  religious  observance  is  enjoined 
upon  us.  The  primitive  christians  did  faithfully  obey  the  injunc- 
tion of  their  Lord.  "  They  continued  stedfastly  in  the  apostWs  doc- 
trine, and  in  fellowship,  and  in  breaking  of  bread,  and  in  prayer.""^ 
From  the  manner  in  which  the  "  breaking  of  bread'^  is  introduced, 

•  Consult  Bern.  De  Moor  Perpet.  com.  vol.  v.  p.  558.  Turret,  vol.  m. 
p.  471,  472,  475.  Voet.  Eccles.  Polit.  vol.  i.  p.  478,  479.  Bingham  Orig. 
Eccles.  vol.  vi.  564,  &c.  &c.  Woifius  in  Cur.  Phil,  and  Crije.  ad  Judac 
ver.  12.  See  also  Schleusneri  Lexic.  Nov.  Test,  article  Agafiai. 

t  Luke  xxii.  17.        t  Luke  xxii.  19,  20.        §  Acts  ii.'  42,  &c. 


272       Of  the  Defects  of  their  System  in  Point  of 

and  from  the  religious  nature  of  the  things  with  which  it  is  de- 
signedly associated,  it  is  very  plain  that  it  cannot,  without  vio- 
lence, be  referred  to  common  meals.  Can  it  be  gravely  asserted 
that  an  inspired  w^riter  would  stop  to  tell  us  that  the  christians 
"  continued  stedfastly  to  break  bread  in  common  meals  ?"  Does  not 
all  the  world  know  that  all  men  do  break  bread,  from  house  to 
house,  in  common  meals  ?  That  wise  men  and  fools — that  the  pa- 
gan- and  the  christian  never  cease  to  do  it  ?  We  could  not  defend 
the  page  of  inspiration  from  the  charge  of  di'ivclling,  did  we  fix 
this  as  the  meaning  of '"  breaking  bread.'''' 

The  Spirit  of  God  is  here  speaking  of  the  acts  of  the  church. 
He  associates,  from  design,  this  act  with  ''  doctrines  and  fellozc- 
s/i.?/*."  It  was  a  feast,  then,  of  the  church.  It  was  a  feast  pre- 
ceded and  followed  by  preaching.*  But  they  were  love  feasts? 
No,  It  cannot  be  made  to  appear  that  love-feasts  were  ordained 
by  our  Lord.  They  could  not,  therefore,  be  interwoven  in  the 
narrative  of  inspiration.  They  could  not  be  placed  by  the  side 
of  the  apostles'  '•  doctrine,  and  fellowsliip,  and  prayer.''^  And  did 
■RC  even  admit  that  they  were  love-feasts,  our  argument  would 
lose  nothing,  [t  is  evident,  from  authentic  documents,  that  the 
holy  supper  was  always  united  with  these  love-feasts.  The  very 
design  of  them  was  to  assemble  the  church  for  the  holy  supper. 
The  last  was  the  principal  end;  the  first  was  only  accessary. 

About  t\ienty-six  years  after  this  institution  had  been  in  full 
operation  in  the  church,  our  Lord  gave  an  additional  expression 
of  his  will  on  the  matter.  This  has  settled  the  point  respecting 
its  authority  and  perpetual  obligation.  I  allude  to  what  was  de- 
livered to  the  Corinthians. 

The  apostle,  having  corrected  the  abuses  in  their  love-feasts, 
and,  having  reminded  them  that  their  coming  together  for  such 
purposes  as  those  to  v.hich  they  had  debased  their  love-feasts, 
was  not  to  eat  the  Lord's  supper,  proceeds  in  all  the  solemnity 
of  his  high  commission,  not  to  put  down  the  festival  of  the  sup- 
per, which  he  certainly  would  have  done,  had  it  been  a  human 
institution! — not  to  abolish  it,  which  he  certainly  would  have 
done  had  it  been    a   part   of  the  abrogated  ceremonies,  or  a 

*  Acts  XX.  7.  t  As  the  council  of  Laodicea  abolished  the  love 

feasts. 


Divine  Ordinances. — The  Lord^s  Supper.      2t^ 

temporary  institution.  But  he  proceeds,  in  the  words  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  to  repeat  its  divinity ;  its  sacred  uses ;  its  perpetual 
obligation.  "  /  have  received  of  the  Lord  that  which  also  I  delivered 
unto  you  ;  that  the  Lord  Jesus^  the  same  night  in  which  he  was  fee- 
trayed^  took  bread'  And  Ziehen  he  had  given  thanks,  he  brake  it ;  and 
said,  take,  eat;  this  is  my  body  broken  far  you.  This  do  in  remmv 
brance  of  me.  He  also  took  the  cup,  after  he  had  slipped,  saying,  this 
cup  is  the  new  •testament  in  my  blood.  This  do,  as  often  as  ye 
drink  it,  in  remembrance  of  me.  For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and 
drink  this  cup,  ye  do  shew  or,  x.itreiyytx>.t7t  shew  ye  forth  the  Lord's 
death  till  he  come.'''' 

This  divine  message  has  filled  up  the  measure  of  our  desires* 
Nothing  can  come  after  it.  It  is  full;  it  is  explicit.  It  leaves  no 
room  for  doubt  or  evasion.  It  places  this  sacred  institution  on 
an  imperishable  basis.  It  throws  around  it  such  a  blaze  of  glory, 
that  we  cannot  approach  it  without  awe  and  veneration ! 

The  society  have  at  no  time  3nelded  to  these  feelings.  With 
them  it  has  no  authority,  no  use,  no  glory !  They  contrive  to 
represent  the  whole  of  this  sacred  passage  as  having  no  more 
the  force  of  a  divine  injunction  to  observe  this  sacred  festival, 
than  the  words,  "  as  nfim  as  yon  go  to  Rome  visit  the  capital,''''  can 
be  supposed  to  lay  a  man  under  an  obligation  to  visit  Rome.* 

This  form  of  argument,  which  the  apologist  has  put  into  the 
lips  of  every  Quaker,  exhibits  a  mortifying  specimen  of  the  ef- 
fect produced  by  certain  superficial  remarks,  and  a  play  upon 
words,  boldly  ventured  on  illiterate  minds.  Not  "  fat,  contented 
ignorance"  herself,  dozing  in  her  cell,  or  shrinking  from  the 
misej-y  of  being  doomed  to  think  and  reflect  for  herself,  can  be 
more  easily  satisfied  ;  and  yield  herself  a  more  ready  slave  to 
vulgar  error  than  these  simple  minds  to  their  authorized  thinkers  i 

Were  it  not  that  the  Baronet  of  Ury  has  been  allowed  to 
think  for  the  amiable  sect  from  generation  to  generation,  we 
might  remind  them  that  this  old  and  feeble  objection,  talked 
into  popularity,  within  the  limits  of  the  meeting,  by  a  few  dull 
prosers,  does  really  imply  that  the  person  addressed  by  it,  has 
been  in  the  habit  of  going  to  Rome.  "  As  often  as  you  go  to 
Rome,  see  the  capitoi:'     If  he  has  not  been  in  the  habit  of  going 

*=  Bar.  Ap.  Prop.  13,  p.  492- 
38 


274       Of  the  Defects  of  their  System  in  Point  of 

thither,  it  has  no  bearing  on  the  point.  It  has  absolutely  no 
meaning;.  But  taking  it  for  granted  that,  as  usual,  he  is  about 
to  visit  Rome,  it  assumes  the  air  of  a  definite  request.  And 
coming  from  one  to  whom  he  owes  all  obedience,  it  becomes  a 
positive  comn)and,  that  he  do  visit  the  capitol.  Taking  it  in  its 
most  natural  construction,  it  operates  wholly  against  the  senti- 
ments of  the  society,  and  in  our  favour. 

Nay,  I  entreat  the  patience  of  the  society  a  mpment.  I  insist 
that  their  own  explanations,  instead  of  proving  the  ordinance  of 
the  supper  to  have  been  abolished,  do  actually  prove  more 
against  them  than  even  we  want  to  establish.  The  precept  say* 
unequivocally  to  the  church,  "  As  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread  and 
drink  this  ctip,  shoiv  ye  forth  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come.''''  That 
is,  they  say,  as  often  as  ye  use  bread  and  wine,  ye  must  do  this  in 
my  memory. 

In  the  parallel  alleged  by  them,  there  is  a  matter  of  indif- 
ference :  "  As  often  as  ye  go  to  Rome,  see  the  capitol.''''  But  there 
is  no  such  indifference  here.  "  Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me — 
as  often  as  ye  eat  bread  and  drink  of  this  cup.'^  The  "  going  to 
Rome''*  is  a  mere  contingency.  You  may  go  thither.  You  may 
not  go.  But  the  using  of  these  viands  is  not  a  matter  of  con- 
tingency. It  does  occur  every  day,  and  every  where.  On  the 
principles  of  the  apologist  it  would  prove  that  we  ought  to 
celebrate  the  Lord's  supper  at  every  meal.  Their  own  explana- 
tions unlock  an  overflowing  of  argument  against  them.  Thej 
pour  forth  gratuitously  a  redundancy  of  proof  in  our  favour. 
But  we  wish  not  to  be  carried  along  by  this  excess  of  misguided 
zeal.  We  do  not  wish  to  be  so  lavish  of  proof.  It  is  to  guard 
us  against  the  abuse  of  making  the  holy  supper  a  common  meal, 
that  this  very  explanation  is  introduced  into  the  precept — "  as  of- 
ten as  ye  cat  this  bread  and  drink  this  wine."  He  makes  an  em- 
phatic distinction  between  the  symbols  of  the  old  sacrament,  and 
the  symbols  of  the  new.  You  have  hitherto  used  the  paschal 
lamb ;  it  is  my  will  that  you  henceforth  use  bread  and  wine.  I 
have  consecrated  thetn  to  my  service,  to  represent  my  broken 
body  and  my  shed  blood ;  and  as  often  as  ye  do  use  this  bread 
and  this  wine — "  do  it — not  as  a  common  meal — "  do  it  in  remem'^ 
hrance  of  me.'''' 


Divine  Ordinances. — The  Lord's  Supper.       275 

Our  apostle  has  delivered  two  additional  precepts  in  this  place. 
The  first  regulates  the  necessary  preparation  of  the  christian ; 
the  second,  in  terms  the  most  definite,  enjoins  on  every  christian 
the  duty  of  celebrating  the  Lord's  supper.  "  Let  a  man  examine 
himself,  and  so  let  him  eat  of  that  bread  and  drink  of  that  cup,''''  To 
strip  the  assailant  of  the  last  fragment  of  his  shivered  weapon, 
and  to  expose  him  in  all  the  nakedness  of  impotent  folly — what 
more  could  be  done,  which  this  voice  of  the  Almighty  has  not 
done? 

4.  Of  all  the  institutions  of  our  Lord,  this  rises  highest  in  so- 
lemnity and  importance.  The  holy  scriptures  present  to  us  those 
doctrines  to  which  heaven  awards  the  honour  of  ''^  making  men 
Tcise  unto  salvation.'^^  The  ministry  expound  them  to  our  minds, 
and  enforce  them  on  our  consciences.  To  baptism  is  awarded 
the  instrumentality  of  giving  an  extraordinary  exhibition  of  the 
purifying  blood  of  Christ.  But  in  this  holy  festival  our  Lord 
comes  down  in  the  sight  of  the  church  in  his  lovely  and  awful 
majest}^,  and  invites  us  to  a  blessed  communion  with  him. 

Now,  that  ordinance  is  most  solemn  in  which  there  is  the  full- 
est and  most  striking  representation  of  the  love  of  our  suffering 
and  dying  Lord;  in  which  extraordinary  communications  are 
made  from  the  throne  of  grace,  for  the  celebrations  of  which  no 
ordinary  preparations  are  required ;  in  the  abuse  of  which  a 
guilt  of  no  ordinary  stain  is  contracted — and  for  the  violating  of 
the  sanctity  of  which  a  fearful  retribution  follows.*  And  such, 
in  every  particular,  is  the  Lord's  supper.  The  circumstance  of 
solemn  pomp  and  mystery  thrown  around  it,  strikes  the  mind  of 
even  the  thoughtless;  how  much  more  the  mind  of  the  humble 
and  devout  christian!  At  all  times  we  should  approach  the  Lord 
with  profound  reverence  ;  but  in  this  institution,  like  Moses  and 
Joshua,  "  We  put  off  our  shoes  from  ojf  our  feet,  for  the  ground  on 
which  rue  stand  is  holy.'''' 

5.  There  are  more  avenues  into  the  human  mind  than  one. 
We  have,  assuredly,  no  right  to  say  that  God  does,  or  that  God 
will  convey  his  mind  to  us  only  by  the  eye,  or  by  the  ear;  by 
any  other  of  the  senses,  or  by  all  of  them  at  once ;  it  must  be  al- 
lowed, he  at  least  can  convey  his  will  to  us.  And  if  he  is  pleased 

1  Cor.  xi.  27,  29. 


270        Of  the  Defects  of  their  System  in  Point  of 

so  to  do,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  impression  made  on  our 
minds  will  be  deep  and  lasting  in  proportion  to  the  numl)er  of  the 
senses  that  may  have  been  employed  in  his  service. 

Now  this  can  be  done  only  by  material  forms,  constituted  sym- 
bols by  the  proper  authority.  These  symbols  set  up  before  our 
senses,  and  brought  into  contact  with  them,  will,  in  consequence 
of  this  constitution,  convey  to  the  mind  moral  instruction  not  only 
correct,  but  peculiarly  forcible.  Thus,  in  regard  to  the  subject 
before  us,  the  proofs  and  expressions  of  our  Saviour's  love,  are, 
in  a  manner,  made  tangible ;  and  they  are  poured  in  upon  our 
minds  through  the  different  avenues  of  the  senses :  and  recipro- 
cating his  divine  love,  our  minds  pour  forth  before  him  a  flood  of 
emotions  and  love,  and  vows  and  devotion.  Every  person  ac- 
quainted with  human  nature  and  the  philosophy  of  the  mind, 
must  surely  feel  the  wisdom  and  high  importance  of  this  mode  of 
communication ;  and  when  to  this  is  added  the  consideration, 
that  in  religion  the  communion  is  to  be  kept  up  between  Him 
who  is  a  pure  Spirit,  and  creatures  whose  spirits  dwell  in  mate- 
rial frames,  and  receive  their  impressions  through  the  senses, 
may  we  not  say  that  it  is,  in  a  manner,  absolutely  necessary  in 
religion.  Let  it  not  be  objected  to  this,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  pro- 
duces effects  on  the  mind  by  the  immediate  presence  of  his  plas- 
tic power;  it  is  neither  orthodox  nor  safe  to  question  this  truth — 
most  certainly  he  does.  But  let  us  remember  that  his  mysterious 
operations  are  attended,  at  the  same  moment,  by  his  effectual  em- 
ploj'^ment  of  the  outward  means  of  grace.  It  is  so  in  the  kingdom 
of  nature :  the  secret  emanation  of  his  pQwer  makes  the  oak  burst 
from  the  acorn;  but  not  without  the  kindly  influence  of  the  dew 
and  of  the  sun,  is  the  work  perfected. 

Our  Lord  has  justified  his  wisdom  and  goodness  in  causing 
this  extraordinary  exhibition  of  his  body  and  blood  to  be  given 
under  material  sj'-mbols.  The  kind  and  the  number  of  these  have 
been  determined  by  his  own  authority.  "  He  took  bread  and  wine.'''' 
These  are  brought  into  the  assembly  of  the  church,  and  are  placed 
on  the  table  of  the  Lord  ;  after  solemn  invocation  the  one  is  bro- 
ken, the  other  is  poured  out;  they  are  put  into  the  hands  of  the 
saints — they  take  them,  and  use  them  in  a  sacramental  manner. 
For  the  rest,  as  it  respects  all  minor  circumstances  attending  it, 


Divine  Ordinances, — The  LoriVs  Supper.       277 

we  are  guided  by  that  general  canon,  "  Let  all  things  be  done  de- 
cently and  in  order.'' 

6.  There  is  a  sacramental  union  established  between  the  sym- 
bols and  the  things  designed  to  be  expressed  by  them. 

This  union,  in  the  judgment  of  the  church,  docs  not  consist  in 
the  conversion  of  the  symbols  into  that  which  they  are  appointed 
to  represent;  nor  is  it  a  union  arising  out  of  the  nature  of  the 
things.  It  is  a  union  which  God  has  been  pleased  to  constitute 
through  grace,  between  the  pious  use  of  the  symbols  and  the  ex- 
hibition of  the  thing  signified  by  them.  The  union  is  relative ;  it 
resembles  the  connexion  existing  between  the  cause  and  the  ef- 
fect— between  means  and  the  end.  It  is  a  real  union,  because 
it  has  for  its  basis  the  divine  institution  thereof,  and  this  does 
create  the  union.  And  the  devout  communicant  does,  in  the  pious 
use  of  the  symbols,  actually  partake  of  the  blessed  realities  ex- 
hibited in  them. 

One  explanation  more  is  necessary.  Our  Lord  ordinarily 
works  by  means ;  but  he  is  not  confined  to  them ;  he  can  accom- 
plish his  will  above  them  and  beyond  them.  In  this  sacramental 
union  it  is  distinctly  understood  by  us,  that  two  things  are  so  con- 
nected that  the  one  cannot  ordinarily  be  possessed  without  the 
other.  In  an  extraordinary  way  it  may  be  enjoyed.  This  re- 
mark applies  equally  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  to  the 
holy  sacraments.  Thus  the  blessings  of  the  divine  presence  are 
necessarily  connected  in  an  ordinary  manner,  with  the  assembling 
of  ourselves  in  the  house  of  God  for  worship ;  but  surely  it  is  not 
confined  to  that.  Barclay  has  admitted  this.*  We  extend  it  for 
the  same  reasons  to  the  Lord's  supper ;  but  the  circumstance  of 
our  Lord  working  in  sovereignty  above  and  beyond  all  means, 
can  no  more  authorize  us  to  lay  aside  the  ordinarj'^  means  of 
grace,  such  as  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  the  observance 
of  the  sacraments,  than  the  fact  of  God's  feeding  the  Jews  with 
manna,  can  excuse  the  folly  of  the  man,  who,  expatiating  on  the 
pleasures  of  freedom  from  bodily  toils,  and  declining  to  cultivate 
his  fields,  lauds  the  Divine  beneficence  and  raises  his  eyes  very 
(Jevoutly  to  heaven  for  manna! 

Barclay,  and  with  him  the  whole  society,  have  rejected  this 

•  Apol.  Prop.  13,  p.  472. 


278       Of  the  Defects  of  their  System  in  Point  of 

sacramental  union.  "  The  communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ"*  say  they,  "  has  no  relation,  nor  respect,  to  the  cere- 
mony of  bread  and  wine."  Why  are  the  Friends  so  incon- 
sistent? Why  do  they  not  also  deny  the  connexion  between 
"  the  assembling  of  themselves  and  the  feeling  of  the  divine  pre- 
sence?" Why  do  they  not  deny  the  connexion  between  their 
preaching  and  the  "  convincement"  of  sinners  ?  They  strenu- 
ously contend  for  all  these.  They  glow  with  zeal  in  advocating 
these  connexions.  By  what  arguments  do  they  support  them? 
Not  from  the  nature  of  the  things.  In  the  nature  of  things  no 
such  connexion  does  exist.  It  is  only  by  a  divine  institution 
God  has  enjoined  us  to  meet.  He  has  ordained  the  preaching 
of  the  gospel.  He  has  pledged  his  presence  in  the  assemblies 
of  the  saints.t  And  it  is  from  the  influences  of  his  presence  that 
these  means  derive  all  their  efficacy.  "  Paul  may  plant — God 
only  gives  the  increase.''''  The  supper  was  ordained  by  the  same 
authority.  The  same  blessed  influence  here  unites  the  means 
and  the  end. 

This  union  may  be  distinctly  marked  in  the  following  things. 
First:  In  the  fitness  of  the  symbols  to  represent  what  is  intend- 
ed. These  are  the  substantial  parts  of  that  food  by  which  hu- 
man life  is  sustained  and  comforted.  And  they  passed  through 
a  necessary  process  before  they  were  fit  for  this.  Our  Lord 
gave  his  body  to  be  bruised  and  broken  for  us.  And  his  blood 
was  shed  on  the  cross.  By  these  sufferings — by  this  agonizing 
death  he  consummated  his  atonement.  Through  this  process  of 
suffering  and  dying,  "/«>  ^^/i"  became  '■''meat  indeed:  and  his 
hlood'''  became  "  drink  indeed,^''l  to  nourish  those  who  "  receive^ 
the  benefit  of  "  his  atonement J^ 

Second :  There  is  not  only  a  natural,  but  a  moral  fitness. 
Divine  authority  has  created  a  mysterious  and  real  union  be- 
tween the  symbols  and  the  thing  signified  by  them,  so  that  they 
are  made  to  represent  to  the  faith  of  the  saints,  "  the  body  and  tlw. 
blood  of  the  Lord.''^  The  following  words  of  inspiration  do  cer- 
tainly convey  this  idea.     If  they  do  not,  they  are  utterly  inex- 

*  Whnt  they  mean  by  the  "  blood,  &.c.  of  Christ,"  is  shown  in  this  section  on 
Oie  mystic  shipper.     See  the  beg-inning  of  this  article, 
t  Matthew  xxviii.  20,         t  Jolm  vi.  56. 


Divine  Ordinances. — Tlie  Lord's  Supper.      279 

plicable.  "  This  bread  is  my  body  broken  for  you.  This  cup  is  the 
new  testament  in  my  blood.''"'  "  The  cup,  is  the  communion  of  the 
blood  of  Christ.  The  bread,  is  the  communion  of  the  body  of 
Christ.''^*  "  He  '  is  guilty  of  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord,''  who 
eats  this  bread  and  drinks  this  cup  unworthily.''''  And  his  guilt  arises 
out  of  his  "  not  discerning,''^  in  these  elements,  "  the  Lord^s  body.''"' 
Now,  T  put  it  to  the  candour  of  every  Friend  to  say — if  there  be 
no  union  created  between  the  external  symbols,  and  the  thing 
divinely  set  forth — if  there  be  no  union  so  constituted,  that  we 
can,  in  the  representation,  certainly  "  discern  the  Lord''s  body^'' 
how  can  the  sin  of  "  not  discerning  iV  be  charged  on  any  man 
by  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth. 

Third:  The  holy  supper  is  not  only  a  sign  but  a  seal  of  the 
covenant  of  grace.  It  does  not  only  represent,  in  an  affecting 
manner,  the  reality  of  our  Saviour's  death  and  atonement,  it 
also  confirms,  to  us,  the  blessings  of  his  grace.  It  bears  to  the 
new  covenant  the  same  relation  which  the  rainbow  bears  to  the 
covenant  of  Noah.  The  rainbow  certainly  does  not  serve  merely 
to  commemorate  the  fact  of  the  deluge.  It  is  a  seal  appended 
to  that  covenant,  which  God  made  with  our  father  Noah,  to  con- 
firm our  faith  in  the  divine  assurance  that  the  earth  shall  not  be 
destroyed  by  another  deluge. 

The  following  is  a  specimen  of  the  proof  from  holy  writ,  that 
the  supper  is,  in  this  sense,  a  seal  of  the  new  covenant.  "  Take^ 
eat :  this  is  my  body  broken  for  you.''^  Here  is  the  comment  of 
Calvin  on  this  text;  and,  as  the  apologist  claims  this  very  eminent 
father  as  at  one  with  them  in  their  view  of  the  supper,]  it  ought,  in 
all  conscience,  to  have  with  them  its  full  weight.  "  Our  Lord  by 
stretching  out  to  v^  his  visible  symbols,  gives  along  with  them  to  us 
his  own  body.  J^or  is  Christ  false.  He  does  not  amuse  us  with  empty 
figures.  Hence  there  is  no  doubt  that  truth  is  united  to  his  sign.- 
That  is,  as  it  respects  spiritual  power,  we  are  as  really  made  par- 
takers  of  the  body  of  Christ,  as  we  feed  on  bread.''''\ 

Nor  is  the  following  less  forcible  :  "  This  cup  is  the  new  tes- 
tament hi  my  blood.''"'  Every  covenant  was  ratified  by  blood.  The 
blood  of  the  victim  streaming  before  the  eyes  of  the  parties, 

*  1  Cor.  X.  16.  f  Bar.  Apol.  p.  498.  X  Quia  Dominu^"  isfc. 

C^lv.  in  1  Cor.  xi.  24-  Bern.  De  Moor,  vol.  v.  256. 


280       Of  the  Defects  of  their  System  in  Point  of 

confirmed  the  truth  to  their  entire  satisfaction,  that  the  con- 
ditions of  the  covenant  were  fulfilled.  Christ  had  assumed  the 
mediatorship  of  the  new  covenant.  In  fulfilling  its  conditions  he 
oflered  himself  a  sacrifice  for  us.  Here  are  the  proofs  and 
pledges  of  it  deposited  with  the  church.  "  This  cup  is  the  nero 
testament  in  my  blood.  This  bread  is  my  body  broken  for  you.'''* 
These  symbols  represent  his  body  broken  and  his  blood  shed 
for  us.  This  was  all  that  was  required  in  that  covenant.  The 
condition  has,  therefore,  been  fulfilled.  Hence  the  certainty  of 
the  blessings  secured  to  us.  The  basis  on  which  this  certain 
assurance  rests,  is  our  Lord's  own  declaration.  And  by  this 
ordinance  his  declaration  is  presented  by  proofs  which  forcibly 
strike  the  mind.  We  feel  these  proofs.  We  see  them.  We  taste 
them.  We  cannot  but  believe  the  evidence  of  our  senses.  We 
must  believe  his  truth,  certified  by  his  veracity,  conveying  upon 
our  minds,  proofs  through  the  testimony  of  our  senses. 

Again  :  The  Lord's  supper  is  a  feast  upon  a  sacrifice.  This 
is  the  result  to  which  an  argument  of  Paul  has  carried  him.* 
The  substance  of  it  is  this.  In  dissuading  from  idolatry,  he  laid 
down  these  positions.  1.  That  in  eating  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ,  ollered  up  to  God,  on  the  cross,  we  have  a  real  com- 
munion in  his  sufferings  and  death.  "  The  cup  of  blessing  which 
we  bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ.  The  bread 
which  Tve  break,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  body  of  Christ  ?'''' 

2.  That  the  Jews  who  eat  of  the  meat  of  the  sacrifice,  did 
partake  as  really  of  the  moral  benefits  of  the  sacrifice  as  those 
for  whom  it  was  offered  up.  "  Are  not  they  who  eat  of  the  sacri- 
fice partakers  of  the  altar  ?"  This  being  laid  down  as  the  true 
meaning  of  the  use  of  sacrifices,  he  argues  in  a  divine  manner, 
that  if  those,  to  whom  he  is  addressing  himself,  did  partake  of 
the  Gentile  feasts  on  their  sacrifices,  even  although  they  had  not 
been  present  at  the  altar,  or  had  assisted  in  the  public  ceremo- 
nies, yet  they  were  thereby  actually  guilty  of  idolatry.  "  The, 
things  which  the  Gentiles  sacrifice,  they  sacrifice  to  devils.  Ye  can- 
not be  partakers  of  the  Lord''s  table,  and  of  the  table  of  devils.'''' 

Thus  the  apostle,  guided  by  inspiration,  makes  it  evident 
that  there  is  a  perfect  analogy  existing  between  these  different 

*  In  1  Cor.  X.  16,  18,  20,  21. 


Divine  Ordinances. — The  Lord^s  Supper.      281 

feasts.  If  there  were  not,  his  argument  loses  its  consistency  and 
divinity.  The  Lord's  supper,  therefore,  bears  that  relation  to 
the  great  Christian  sacrifice,  which  the  feasts  of  the  Jews  and 
the  Gentiles,  after  their  sacrifices,  did  bear  to  their  sacrifices. 
But  these  feasts  were  feasts  on  their  sacrifices.  And  all  who,  at 
the  table,  partook  of  them,  were  interested  in  the  moral  benefits 
arising  from  the  blood  of  the  victim  as  much  as  those  who  as- 
sisted at  the  altar  or  who  oflered  up  the  victim.  Hence,  by  the 
apostle's  argument  from  these  premises,  the  Lord's  supper  is  a 
feast  on  the  great  Christian  sacrifice  offered  up  on  Calvary. 
And  in  feeding  on  this  sacrifice  by  faith — and  we  actually  do  it, 
when  we  devoutly  take  the  sacred  symbols  into  our  hands,  and 
use  them  sacramentally — we  are  considered  in  law,  and  in  jus- 
tice, as  the  persons  for  whom  the  atoning  blood  of  the  chris- 
tian sacrifice  was  shed. 

•  Now,  the  feasting  on  a  sacrifice  was  a  solemn  federal  rite  in 
the  Jewish  church.  This  is  easily  explained.  The  altar  was 
the  table  of  God.  The  sacrifice  otFered  up  on  it  was  "/w5  mecfi."* 
Hence  when  the  church  sat  down  to  eat  of  the  sacrifice,  "  the 
fruit  of  the  altar^^^  they  became  the  guests  of  the  Lord.  They 
did  eat  and  drink  with  him.  And  this  communion  did  certainly 
imply  that  love  and  peace  existed  between  the  parties.  This 
idea  was  universally  understood.  It  was  thus  that  covenants  of 
peace  were  ratified,  and  carried  into  effect.  The  parties  erected 
their  altar,  and  eat  thereon.t  And  in  the  feast  at  the  altar  the 
devout  Jew  appeared  as  the  one  party  "  in  the  covenant  of  his 
God.''''\  He  received  the  confirmations  of  the  divine  love  :  And 
he  pledged  his  vows  of  fidelity  to  his  God. 

But  according  to  our  apostle  in  his  argument  referred  to  above, 
there  is  a  perfect  analogy  between  the  feast  of  the  Jewish  church 
and  the  Lord's  supper.  Hence  while  we  feast  on  the  christian 
sacrifice  we  arc  made  his  guests.  "  He  sups  with  us  and  we  sup 
with  him.''''  We  devote  ourselves  to  him  by  solemn  vows ;  he 
confirms  his  covenant  of  peace  with  us.§ 

And  there  is,  in  this  institution,  the  highest  moral  tendency  to 

*  Mai.  i.  7,  12.         t  G Ti.  xxxi.  44.         :(:  Lev.  ii.  13. 
§  Consult  Cudworth's  Treatise  on  the  Lord's  supper  in  the  end  of  the 
second  volume  of  his  Intcikctual  System,  p.  26,  34,  Mihi,  quarto. 

39 


282         Of  the  Defects  of  their  System  in  Point  of 

promote  this: — The  visible  symbols  in  reference  to  the  Lord's 
supper,  are  to  us  what  the  rainbow  of  Noah's  covenant  is  to  all 
men ;  what  the  wetting  of  the  fleece  was  to  Jephthah ;  and  what 
the  live  coal  laid  on  Isaiah's  lips,  was  to  him.  These  did  seal 
and  ratify  what  was  announced. 

Hence  the  christian  with  the  sacred  symbols  in  his  hands,  is 
taught  thus  divinely  to  reason.  As  certainly  as  my  God  has  set 
apart  these  elements  as  the  instruments  of  a  sj^mbolical  represen- 
tation of  the  death  of  my  Redeemer;  as  certainly  as  they  have 
been  put  gratuitously  into  my  hands  for  this  purpose ;  so  certainly 
has  he  in  his  body,  by  his  passion  on  the  cross,  made  a  thorough 
atonement;  so  certainly  is  he  freely  given  to  me ;  so  certainly 
shall  I  have  on  my  due  acceptance  of  him,  rich  grace  for  every 
want  in  this  transitory  state  ;  and  in  yonder  bright  world  whither 
he  beckons  me,  a  crown  of  immortal  glory.  Can  1  doubt  the 
veracity  of  my  Lord?  Can  I  hesitate  to  give  the  fullest  credence 
to  his  promises  ?  I  may  sooner  doubt  these  evidences  of  my 
senses — these  evidences  of  my  seeing,  and  feeling,  and  tasting  of 
these  materials,  which  are  by  his  authority  put  into  my  hands, 
and  made  by  him  the  sjniibols  of  his  atonement. 

Thus,  therefore,  the  Lord's  supper  is  a  seal  of  the  covenant  of 
grace.  And  thus,  it  is  evident,  that  there  is  a  sacramental  union 
between  the  visible  symbols  and  the  grace  that  is  thereby  signi- 
fied. 

From  the  premises  the  following  inferences  are  clearly  made 
out.  First:  That  there  is  no  foundation  in  scripture  or  in  the 
nature  of  the  things  for  the  fanciful  distinction  of  Barclay'-,  that 
the  death  of  Christ  zcas  shown  forth  by  bread  and  wine  until  that  event 
actually  took  place;  but  that  the  communion  of  his  body  and  blood  is 
had  only  through  the  internal  light,  and  without  an  external  ceremony.* 
Second:  That  the  holy  supper  is  a  most  necessary  means  of  our 
christian  comfort  and  salvation.  The  church  is  at  issue  on  this 
matter  with  all  her  opposers,  and  she  distinctly  pronounces  her 
judgment.  There  is  not,  in  all  cases  of  the  dereliction  of  reason,  a 
mark  of  folly  and  insanity,  more  deeply  branded  on  human  con- 
duct, than  that  of  him  who  frowns  from  him  the  sacred  bread  and 
the  sacred  cuj);  and  who  in  the  midst  of  smiling  plenty  offered 

*  Bar.  Apol.  Piop.  13,  p.  477. 


Divine  Ordinances. — TJie  Lord's  Supper.       283 

to  him  by  the  angel  of  mercy,  destroys  his  soul  by  a  slow  linger- 
ing death.  And  Oh !  but  the  fitful  peals  of  laughter  poured  through 
the  open  jaws  of  the  maniac  are  not  half  so  dreary  on  the  ear  of 
melancholy;  and  the  low  protracted  convulsive  scream  of  the  ex- 
piring criminal,  is  not  half  so  horrible  to  the  ear  of  recoiling  hu- 
manity, as  is  his  boisterous  mirth  on  the  ears  of  all  good  men, 
while  he  labours  it  through  the  murderous  process  of  self-destruc- 
tion !  Third:  That  the  sacrilegious  hand  which  ofters  violence 
to  this  holy  institution  is  stained  by  crime  of  the  deepest  aggrava- 
tion. It  has  ever  been  deemed  an  atrocious  offence  to  offer  in- 
sult and  violence  to  the  person  with  whom  a  covenant  of  amity 
had  been  confirmed  by  eating  and  drinking.  The  conscience  of 
even  a  heathen  has  set  this  mark  of  infamy  on  it.  Even  Celsus 
has  gone  so  far  as  to  bring  a  charge  of  inconsistency  against  the 
sacred  narrative  which  has  detailed  the  treachery  of  Judas — be- 
cause it  records  what  human  nature,  as  he  thought,  was  not  ca- 
pable of  perpetrating — that  is,  treachery  after  having  sealed  the 
covenant  of  amity  by  eating  and  drinking.* 

Public  opinion  is  the  same  now,  respecting  solemn  covenants 
ratified  by  an  oath.  Oh !  who  can  conceive  the  sweeping  stroke 
of  that  Justice  whose  stern  eye  singles  out,  for  vengeance,  the 
wretch  who  breaks  the  covenant  of  his  God ;  and  who  "  is 
guilty  of  the  body  and  blood  of  the  LordP^  And,  Oh!  tell  me  if  the 
sacrilegious  abstraction  of  the  cup  from  this  sacred  institution,  by 
the  priests  of  Rome,  have  rendered  it  doubtful,  at  least,  whether 
this  sacrament  be  solemnized,  or  even  recognized  in  that 
church:! — if  the  act  of  unworthy  communicating  does  involve 
guilt  of  such  a  distressing  nature^ — what  must  be  the  guilt  of 
that  offender,  who,  without  the  plea  which  ignorance  and  weak- 
ness are  allowed  to  plead  in  extenuation  of  his  crime,  who  with- 
out even  the  plea  of  the  prodigal,  whose  passions  have  carried 
him  forward  into  hostilities  against  the  truth,  who  through  an 
unsanctified  zeal,  lashed  into  fury  by  enthusiasm,  pours  contempt 
on  this  standing  memorial  of  Christ's  love,  this  standing  proof 

*  "  Ot/  «v9f«jrS  •  »0(»av»o-«c  ff^vs^m  tvK  av  etuToi,  toA>.5  TXior  «  Qti 
cuftvu^tiBtK    tVK  BLi  eiurS)  tvi^auXat^  iyjviTO."— -Cels.  IN  OrIGKN. 

t  See  Dv.  Adam  Clark  on  The  Eucharist,  p.  55,  who  "  df^Jies  all  the 
priests  of  Rome  to  prove  that  this  sacrament  is  ever  dispensed  in  their 
society."    They  withhold  the  cup  from  the  laity.        %  1  Cor.  xi.  29. 


284       Of  the  Defects  of  their  System  in  Point  of 

of  his  divine  mission  and  purity  of  character,*  and  in  face  of 
that  authority  which  gave  it  birth,  wages  war  against  it  "  as  an 
idle  Jewish  ceremony ;"  and  with  sacrilegious  hands  tears  it 
from  its  lofty  place,  which  God  has  assigned  to  it  in  his  sanc- 
tuary, and  trains  up  his  children  and  his  domestics,  with  a  fatal 
fidelity  to  do  the  same;  and  leaves  to  his  posterity  the  legacy 
of  the  spirit  of  persecution  !  "  Ok!  my  soul,  come  not  thou  into  his 
secret  ;  into  his  assembly,  mine  honour,  be  not  thou  united  /" 

7  and  last.  These  two  sacraments  are  of  perpetual  obligation. 
We  hold  up  the  proofs  of  their  divine  appointment ;  and  we  in- 
sist that  our  Lord's  authority  alone  can  abolish  what  his  decree 
has  ordained.  Either  you  are  guilty  of  a  daring  outrage  on  his 
prerogative,  or  his  prerogative  has  been  exercised  in  abolishing 
these  institutions.  If  you  acted,  in  this  measure,  under  his 
auspices,  the  decree  that  abolished  them  is  on  record.  Where,  we 
demand,  are  the  proofs  of  your  commission  from  the  court  of 
heaven?  Where  is  the  abolishing  decree  registered?  We  chal- 
lenge the  sectary  to  produce  it.  We  ask  not  the  sickly  dreams 
of  the  visionary.  We  listen  to  no  appeals,  however  confidently 
made,  to  the  motiveless  farrago — the  incoherent  jargons  of  self- 
commissioned  kings  and  prophets.  We  appeal  to  the  only  au- 
thenticated messages  of  God — the  holy  scriptures.  If  the  decree 
ever  existed  it  is  to  be  found  there.  It  is  not  there.  It  never 
existed. 

Indeed  the  nature  of  the  services  rendered  by  these  means  of 
his  ordination  are  such,  in  the  kingdom  of  grace,  that  they  will 
be  essentially  necessary  as  long  as  he  has  any  of  his  mediatorial 
Work  to  be  executed,  and  as  long  as  he  continues  to  work  as  he 
always  works — by  means.  And  that  will  be  until  he  "  shall  de- 
liver itp  the  kingdom  to  the  Father^  Hence  the  parting  words  of 
our  Lord,  "  Go  teach  and  baptize — and  lo  !  I  am  zvith  you  alzvay, 
even  to  the  end  of  the  world.^*  "  Shczo  ye  forth  the  Lord^s  death  till  he 
come  «o-o??t."  Was  there  ever  a  point  made  more  plain  and  explicit  ? 
Can  the  vocabulary  of  language  exhibit  more  specific  or  more 
intelligible  words  ?  "  The  coming  again  of  the  Lord  Jesus^'  is  the 
limit  of  their  duration,  the  period  of  their  authority  over  us. 

•  See  Dr.  Dwight's  Works,  Sermon  160,  where  he  demonstrates  that 
the  holy  sacraments  are  '•  standing  proofs  of  our  Lord's  divine  ?)iis- 
sion  :'*  And  to  opjiose  them  is,  of  course,  equivalent  to  the  act  of 
leaguing  against  his  mission. 


Divine  Ordinances. — The  Lord^s  Supper.      285 

The  terms,  we  have  said,  are  very  intelligible.  But  it  is  the 
misfortune  of  words  in  divine  as  well  as  inhuman  laws,  that  they 
are  generally  plain  and  obvious  until  the  thought  which  they  con- 
vey unluckily  crosses  some  one's  path,  and  thwarts  him  in  some 
favourite  aim :  they  immediately  become  mysterious  and  of  dou- 
ble and  uncertain  meaning. 

Now,  it  has  been  always  understood  in  the  church,  since  the 
spirit  of  inspiration  put  it  into  universal  currency,  that  there  were 
two  comings  of  Christ.  His  '■^Jirst  coming''^  and  his  "  second  com- 
ing.^''* 

Our  Lord  has  come  in  '"'■  the  flesh.''''  This  advent  was  prior  to 
the  appointment  of  these  sacraments.  This  cannot  be  "  i/ic  com- 
ing" referred  to.  "  He  shall  appear  the  second  time  without  sin  unto 
salvation ;"  he  "  will  descend  with  a  shout  ,•"  he  will  sit  on  the 
^'' great  white  throne  /"  he  will  summon  all  nations  into  his  presence ; 
he  will  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead.  This  is  emphatically 
styled  "  the  coming  of  Christ  f  and  till  this  ^''  coming^''  these  sacra- 
ments will  continue  in  full  operation. 

The  leaders  of  the  society  in  their  incurable  rage  for  mysti- 
cism, have  very  gravely  told  us  that  "  Christ's  coming  is  not  to 
be  referred  to  any  outward  coming,  but  to  his  inward  coining ;  and 
this  inivard  coining  is  nothing  less  and  nothing  more,  say  they, 
than  the  mission  of  the  Spirit  at  Pentecost.  "  The  coming  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  is,  say  they,  the  coming  of  Christ — and  that  is  past. 
These  "  ceremonies  lasted  till  the  coming  of  Christ."  Since  that 
they  have  ceased.f 

Whether  Sabellius  of  olden  times,  or  the  Sabellius  of  the 
society,  is  to  have  the  merit  of  discovering  "  that  the  mission  of 
the  Spirit  and  the  coming  of  Christ  are  the  same  thing,"  and 
whence  they  may  have  derived  their  authority  for  the  theory, 
I  profess  that  it  is  not  for  uninspired  men  to  determine.  But, 
eertainly,  it  must  have  originated  with  that  haggard  spirit  who 

•  Acts  vii.  52,  Acts  xiii.  24,  and  Acts  ii.  11.  Heb.  ix.  28,  Sec.  I  speak 
not  here  of  his  '*  comings"  taken  evidently  in  a  nietapliorical  manner,  and 
designed  to  convey  the  idea  of  some  extraordinary  movement  in  Provi- 
dence, or  display  of  grace,  as  in  Exod.  iii.  S,  and  xix.  11.  Psal.  cxi.  5. 
Isa.  ly.iv.  1.  Micah.  i.  3.  I  speak  not  here  of  these,  for  we  niust  not  con- 
found things  Hteral  and  metaphorical . 

t  See  Penn  vol.  ii.  833,  834,  908.  Barcl.  Apol.  Prop.  13,p.  492,  and 
J.  Pike  on  Bapt.  and  the  supper,  p.  119. 


286  Of  the  Defects  of  their  System,  ^c. 

brooded  on  each  of  them ;  and  whose  breath  has  blown  a 
withering  blast  over  the  fair  system  of  truth ;  whose  damning 
theory  has  confounded  the  holy  persons  of  the  Son  and  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  and  who  has  blotted  out  of  their  "  other  gospeV  the 
most  holy  doctrine  of  the  Triniti/ ;  and  who  has  dried  up  the 
last  stream  of  hope  and  comfort  to  the  sad  soul ;  and  who  bids 
the  fainting  pilgrim  go  weep  in  despair !  But  this  theory  will 
never  obtain  currency.     "  Tht  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth  /" 

The  "  coming  of  Chrisf''  is  not  "  the  mission  of  the  Holy  Ghost." ' 
Our  Lord  has  ascended  on  high.  And,  according  to  his  pro- 
mise he  has  sent  us  the  Holy  Spirit.  But,  He  himself,  in  hu- 
man nature,  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne.*  And  he  will  remain 
there  "  till  the  restitution  of  all  things'''']  It  will  not  help  our 
mystic  friends  out  of  the  difficulty,  to  refer  this  "  coming  of  our 
Lord''''  to  his  secret  communion  with  us.  This  he  has  vouchsafed 
to  the  pious  of  all  ages.  This  he  will  not  suffer  to  be  inter- 
rupted at  any  period.  In  this  manner,  he  will  continue  to  come 
till  the  trump  of  God  shall  sound  the  last  note  of  time.  And,  the 
Friends  being  witnesses,  this  is  a  "  spiritual  coming.^''  Let  them 
take  it  in  either  sense,  in  ours,  or  their  own,  they  must,  in  con- 
sistency, yield  the  point ;  and  admit  the  perpetual  obligation  of 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper,  or  wage  war  against  the  ob- 
vious assurances  and  precepts  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Let  them 
choose  the  alternative  of  the  dilemma. 

•  Revel,  chap.  V.        fActsiii.  21. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

AN  HISTORICAL  VIEW    OF    THE    MORAL    TENDENCY  OF    THEIR  RELIGIOUS 

TENETS. 


5rx«ii«jwivo/." — St.  Paul. 


The  moral  man  of  the  world,  is  not  the  moral  man  of  the  Bi- 
ble ;  the  virtues  of  the  former  are  the  virtues  of  its  philosophy — 
those  of  the  latter  are  produced  by  the  spirit,  and  regulated  by 
the  precepts  of  the  gospel.  Those  divine  precepts  are  from  the 
same  throne  whence  issue  the  laws  that  govern  nature.  It 
would  betray  the  act  of  a  maniac  to  assume  the  liberty  and  pow- 
er of  changing  the  laws  of  nature.  It  does  betray  equal  folly, 
and  much  more  danger  to  trench  on  the  prerogatives  of  Deity, 
to  dictate  to  infinite  sovereignty  what  actions  should  form  the 
constituent  parts  of  morality  in  the  bosom  and  in  the  actions  of 
his  moral  subjects.  Christianity  is  at  issue  with  the  world  on 
this  point,  and  we  shall  not  yield  one  inch  of  ground  to  the  ad- 
versary ;  we  shall  not  applaud  that  image,  that  phantom,  which 
the  world  has  set  up  in  the  place  of  morality.  It  is  hollow;  it  is 
baseless ;  it  is  a  body  without  a  spirit.  To  set  aside  the  pecu- 
liar doctrines  of  Christianity  which  exhibit  the  aids  and  the  mo- 
lives  to  obey  its  precepts,  we  do  contend,  is  to  take  away  the 
soul  and  spirit  of  sound  morals. 

The  Friends  have  been  distinguished  by  the  name  of  good 
moralists ;  whether  justly  or  not  on  the  above  principles,  I  shall 
not  now  enquire.  I  will  admit  the  morality  and  sound  policy 
usually  ascribed  to  them  ;  I  \vill  not  detract  one  grain  from  their 
justice,  their  integrity,  their  honesty.  Their  kind  and  amiable 
manners  have  secured  them  a  right  to  the  title  of  Friends ;  their 
females  are  distinguished  for  their  prudence,  their  modesty,  and 
elegance  of  manners ;  their  attention  to  the  wants  of  the  poor, 
their  deportment  towards  the  Indian  tribes,  and  their  labours 
in  behalf  of  bleeding  Africa,  call  forth  our  applause.  I  will  not 
detract  ought  from  the  laurels  which  have  long  and  justly  adorn- 
ed the  brows  of  some  of  their  leaders,     I  revere  the  memory  of 


288  Of  the  Moral  Tendency 

governor*  Barclay  as  a  man  of  letters,  prudence  and  integrity. 
The  name  of  Penn  associates  in  my  mind  the  ideas  of  wisdom 
and  sound  policy,  built  on  strict  national  justice  ;  while  the  memo- 
ry of  Cortes  and  Pizarro  floats  along  the  stream  of  time,  they 
will  bear  along  with  them  the  execration  of  mankind.  But  the 
memory  of  Penn  as  a  politician,  will  be  embalmed  in  the  recol- 
lection of  millions  of  freemen,  who  will  guard  the  honour  and 
laws  of  that  fair  state  which  bears  the  name  of  its  illustrious 
founder. 

But  the  society  of  Friends  do  not  come  before  the  public  mere- 
ly as  good  moralists;  they  thank  not  the  world  for  the  negative 
virtues  in  which  it  has  officiously  clothed  them ;  they  stand  for- 
ward with  the  highest  claims  of  a  christian  society  ;  they  do  claim 
apostolical  honours  and  an  apostolical  commission  to  their  ancient 
elders.  In  the  ascent  of  reformation  they  have  left  the  christian 
world  far  behind  in  the  gloom  of  the  dark  ages  ;t  they  tour  aloft 
in  air;  they  plant  their  proud  standard  on  the  highest  battlement 
of  Zion ;  they  throw  ai'oundthem  a  cloud  of  glory  and  perfection ; 
they  look  down  with  inimitable  complacency  on  the  bustling 
sects  crawling  far  below,  and  frown  defiance  to  the  proudest  of 
them,  to  approach  their  height.  Not  as  moralists  do  they  take 
their  proud  stand,  but  as  a  new  sect  bearing  a  new  modification 
of  Christianity.  Christianity  reformed  even  to  sublimity  !  Chris- 
tianity stript  of  its  peculiar  institutions! 

The  moral  tendency  of  their  religious  system  may  be  con- 
sidered in  its  effects  on  the  mind ;  on  their  manners ;  on  prac- 
tical religion,  and  on  learning.  These  moral  effects  are  pre- 
sented to  our  eyes  with  the  historical  evidence  of  a  hundred  and 
seventy  years. 

1.  The  doctrine  of  supernatural  impulses,  carried  out  in  its 
legitimate  tendency,  lays  their  minds  open  to  endless  follies  and 
deception. 

Let  a  man  be  fully  convinced  that  he  carries  in  his  bosom  a 
power  that  dictates  every  proper  measure,  and  guides  him  with 
infallibilit}',  and  he  will  seldom  act  like  a  sober  and  rational 
being.    He  will  check,  as  intrusions,  the  dictates  of  reason  ;  and 

•  He  was  appointed  governor  of  New  Jersey  in  A.  D.  1682,  by 
Charles  II.  f  Bar.  Apol.  Prop.  x.  sect.  11. 


Of  their  lleligious  Tenets.  289 

ie  will  spurn  from  him  the  advices  of  friends.  Even  the  holy 
counsels  of  the  Bible  will  loose  their  weight  with  him.  Never 
content  with  common  means,  and  common  things,  nothing  short 
of  supernatural  agency  comes  up  to  the  measure  of  his  taste. 
He  will  court  with  anxiety  the  dream,  or  the  still  voice  of  the 
awful  midnight  hour;  or  the  solemn  vision  of  the  forest,  or  of 
the  cave.  He  will  be  the  child  of  superstition.  A  strong  in- 
clination, nursed  by  some  particular  bias,  will  have  the  force, 
with  him,  of  a  divine  impulse.  He  will,  by  degrees,  transfer  the 
influence  of  these  motions  from  moral  objects  to  the  common 
affairs  of  life.  They  will,  in  process  of  time,  be  put  in  requisi- 
sition  to  guide  his  appetites,  his  business,  and  even  his  gestures. 
Incidents  are  on  record  in  the  history  of  the  sect,  which  do 
abundantly  show  that  this  is  no  theory. 

One  of  these  reforming  inspirati  was  moved  to  carry  off  the 
sand  glass  from  the  priest's  desk.  He  affirmed  that  he  did  it  in 
obedience  to  the  Spirit.  And  Fox  insisted  that  that  could  not  be 
theft  which  was  prompted  by  inspiration.*  One  of  these  in- 
spired few  resided  in  major  Hobson's  family.  Finding  his  mind 
inaccessible  to  argument,  the  major,  by  means  of  a  long  tube, 
carried  into  a  trunk  that  stood  in  the  chamber  of  the  Friend, 
conveyed  dismal  sounds  into  his  ears,  about  the  witching  time  of 
night.  His  mind  having  been  suitably  elevated  by  this  prepar- 
atory measure,  he  heard  words  distinctly  calling  on  him  to  arise 
and  go  to  a  certain  place.  He  arose  and  devoutly  obeyed  the 
Oracle.!  Fox,  when  walking  over  a  plain  received  a  command 
from  the  invisible  guide  within  to  ascend  the  adjacent  cliffs, 
and  he  promptly  obeyed.;}:  When  seated  at  the  table,  it  said, 
"  George  eat  not ;"  and  he  arose  forthwith.§  Toldervy  was  the 
most  implicit  in  his  obedience,  "i/e  couldnot  limit  the  holy  one  in 
him  in  any  thing.'''*  He  had  been  a  dashing  and  gay  servant  in 
colonel  Webb's  family.  But  after  hearing  one  Quaker  lecture 
this  spirit  in  him  new  modelled  his  whole  life.  Thou  shalt  not 
use '■'- you  and  ye.''"'  And  he  thenceforth  used  the  style  of  the 
sanctified.     Thou  shalt  not  use  "  points  nor  a  hat-band,  nor  one 

•  "  Great  mystery,"  old  Edit.  p.  77,  and  "Snake,  &c."  p.  94,  Edit.  3, 
or  p.  91.  2  Edit.  f  Faldo's  "  Quak.  &c."  p.  27,  and  Penn.  vol.  ii.  p. 
306.        X  Jowr.  vol.  i.  173.        $  Vol.  i.  p.  172. 

40 


290  Of  the  Moral  Tendency 

unnecessary  button."  And  he  rejected  them.  He  met  the  colo- 
nel no  longer  with  an  obsequious  air,  but  under  a  huge  hat  and 
with  "  William  Webb^  how  does  thy  body  do  ?"  While  the  colonel 
was  entertaining  a  polite  company,  "  I  was  moved  by  the  spirit," 
said  John,  ''  to  go  and  dine  with  them."  Instead  of  waiting  on 
his  master,  he  walked  into  the  hall,  covered,  and  with  a  gravity 
that  was  not  to  be  discomposed,  he  took  his  stool,  placed  it  at 
the  head  of  the  table,  "  and  applied  himself  to  his  work."  We 
next  find  him  behind  a  counter.  But  the  spirit  moved  him  to 
give  new  names  to  certain  articles  that  "  were  named  by  the 
will  of  man."  This  new  nomenclature  produced  such  confusion 
that  he  was  again  dismissed,  fn  short,  he  eat  when  prompted 
by  his  spiritual  guide  :  and  refrained,  scrupulously,  from  those 
viands  which  it  proscribed.*  Some  were  prompted  to  rid  them- 
selves of  the  shackles  of  clothes,  and  to  act  the  Lupercus.  Some 
wei'e  moved  to  take  off  the  hat  in  prayer.  Some  were  moved 
not  to  take  oft"  the  hat.  Some  it  moved  to  stand  during  devotion : 
some  it  moved  to  sit.  Guided  by  these  impulses,  some  laid 
aside  the  leading  institutions  of  Christ.  Muggleton,  though  not 
of  the  society,  professed  to  follow  the  same  infallible  guide,  and, 
outrageously  consistent,  he  rejected  the  Bible,  and  teachers,  and 
pastors,  and  sacraments,  and  assemblies  for  worship.  In  late 
times,  Shackleton  revived  this  principle  in  the  society  in  Ire- 
land ;  and  rigorously  followed  it  up,  till  he  found  himself  pre- 
cisely where  this  enthusiasm  carries  its  votaries — in  the  train  of 
Herbert  and  Hume,  and  the  miserable  Paine.t 

2.  The  first  grand  tenet  of  the  sect  has  a  tendency  to  lead 
men  into  the  wildering  mazes  of  deism. 

Their  leading  tenet  elevates  their  revelations  above  the  Bible : 
and  the  Holy  Bible  is  m.ade  to  sink  into  a  secondary  rule; 
liable  to  be  interpreted  by  their  revelations;  and  obeyed  only 
so  far  as  it  corresponds  with  their  impulses. |  These  revelations, 
say  they,  do  all  that  the  scriptures  can  do — and  in  a  superior 
manner.  The  scriptures  are  from  the  Spirit,  but  they  have  that 
very  Spirit  as  their  guide.     And  '"'■propter  quod  unumquodque  est 

*  See  his  book,  "  Foot  out  of  the  Snare,"  pp.  10,  15,  17,  18,  19,  &c. 
See  the  Note  D.  Appendix  I.  f  See  "  The  Snak«  in  the  Grass,"  sect. 
21,  for  further  specimens  equally  striking  %  Penn.  vol.  ii.  p.  515. 


Of  their  Ileligious  Tenets.  291 

tale,  illud  ipsum  est  magis  tale*''*  It  is  true,  in  all  their  defences, 
they  confound  their  impulses  and  the  Spirit.  Or  their  impulses 
and  the  Spirit  are  the  same.  Hence  their  conclusion  that  they 
are  superior  to  the  Bible.  It  is  only  an  extension  of  the  same 
idea,  when  they  say,  that  "  Turks  and  pagans  who  never  heard 
of  the  history  of  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ,  may,  by  the 
light  within,  be  saved,  as  well  as  the  christian." 

These  opinions  are  advocated  in  the  Apology  with  all  the  in- 
genuity and  wildering  sophistry  of  Barclay.!  It  is  easy  to  see 
what  must  be  the  conclusions  to  which  the  mind  of  the  Friend  is 
led,  who  approaches  Barclay  with  all  the  prepossessions  of  sec- 
tarian partiality.  "  These  scriptures  are  good.  But  my  fathers 
and  I  think  that  they  are  not  essentially  necessary.  I  have  that 
in  me — and  every  man  has  that  in  him,  which  is  really  superior. 
They  are  the  secondary  rule.  I  have  in  me  the  primary  rule. 
These  are  but  as  a  dead  letter,  compared  to  my  infallible  guide." 
The  next  step  to  the  Quaker,  is  easy  and  natural.  Every  be- 
liever in  Barclay  rises  up  from  the  perusal  of  the  Apology,  as 
really  and  practically  a  Deist,  as  if  he  had  been  studying  Her- 
bert or  Bolingbroke,  or  Hume  ! 

The  Keithian  controversy  which  agitated  the  society  in  Phila- 
delphia and  London  in  the  days  of  Penn,  affords  proof  of  the  ex- 
istence of  deism  among  them  at  that  early  period.  It  is  a  fact 
capable  of  the  most  distinct  proof  from  the  writings  of  that  period, 
that  the  accusation  brought  against  Keith  was  "  that  he  preached 
two  Christs.^''  The  proof  was  that  he  taught  "  that  the  Lord  Je- 
sus is  in  the  heavens  in  human  nature,  and  that  the  light  within 
is  the  spiritual  presence  of  Christ:"  for  this  doctrine  he  was  con- 
demned. The  process  began  in  Philadelphia — the  final  sentence 
was  pronounced  in  London.  Keith  justly  rephed,  "  if  I  am  guil- 
ty of  error  in  your  estimation,  then  you  do  deny  the  real  Christ 
in  human  nature  in  heaven ;  if  you  do  not  deny  Christ  thus  in 
glory,  how  can  you  pronounce  me  guilty  ?  How  can  you  assert 
that  I  preach  two  Christs  ?"| 

•  Bar.  Apol.  Prop.  iii.  Sect.  -2.         f  Apol.  Prop.  iii. 

+  See  Keith's  J^eiu  Englayid  Spirit  of  Persecution,  p.  2,  and  h\s  Deism 
of  JV.  Penn,  and  "  Snake,"  edit.  2,  p.  61,  65,  66 ;  and  on  the  other  side, 
see  his  Antagonist's,  S.  Jennings,  Acct.  of  this  Controv.  at  Philad. 


292  Of  the  Moral  Tendency 

The  infidel  system  of  Woolston  furnishes  an  additional  proof 
of  this  fact;  it  grew  up  by  the  most  natural  process,  out  of  the 
Quaker  principles.  This  idea  was  suggested  and  pursued  at 
some  length  by  Richard,  bishop  of  Litchfield  and  Coventry,  in 
his  review  of  Woolston  :  he  has  estabhshed  this  position,  that 
Woolston  and  the  Friends  explained  away,  by  the  magic  of  al- 
legory, the  literal  meaning  of  the  New  Testament — and  particu- 
larly that  they  opposed  the  spiritual  and  inward  Christ  to  the 
outward  and  carnal  Christ,  in  all  the  circumstances  of  his  birth, 
death  and  resurrection.*  The  anonymous  champion  of  the  so- 
ciety was  a  novice  at  argument ;  his  strength  lay  in  denying  the 
resemblance.!  The  al)le  author  of  the  defence  of  the  bishop 
went  fully  into  the  examination  of  this  subject;  he  laid  down  the 
following  points  of  resemblance  ;  and  the  copious  extracts  from 
Woolston  and  the  writers  of  the  society,  have  fairly  borne  him 
out  in  his  argument.  "  1.  Some  of  the  leading  Quakers  as  well 
as  Woolston,  seem  to  deny  the  facts  relating  to  an  outward  Christ. 
2.  Other  leading  Quakers  express  themselves  with  great  indif- 
ference, as  likewise  does  Woolston,  whether  the  facts  of  an  out- 
ward Christ  were  performed  or  not — and  if  performed,  they  do, 
with  him,  deny  the  necessity  of  the  belief  of  them.  3.  The  Qua- 
kers in  general  assert  that  these  outward  facts  are  typical  of  the 
operations  of  the  inward  Christ;  so  does  Woolston  professedly. 
4.  The  Quakers  infinitely  prefer  the  inward  Christ  to  the  outward 
and  carnal  Christ.  5.  Woolston  has  copied  their  mode  of  allegory. 
6.  By  the  means  of  allegory  both  of  them  explain  away  the  holy 
sacraments.  7.  Some  of  them  agree  with  Woolston  that  there 
is  no  other  resurrection,  nor  hell,  nor  heaven,  but  those  within 
them."+ 

Since  that  period  this  spirit  has  been  silently  maintaining  its 
deadly  march ;  there  has  been  no  Keith  within  to  check  it — with- 
out, there  has  been  no  Leslie  armed  with  "  The  Snake"  to  chas- 
tise the  lowering  demon  back  to  its  place. 

The  frequency  of  expulsions,  with  the  sentiments  which  the 
narratives   of  expelled  members  breathe,  and  the  facts  Avhich 

*  See  the  ♦'  Vindication  of  the  Miracles  of  Jesus,'"  p.  572.  f  Letters 
first  and  second  to  the  Bp.  of  L  ai.d  Co\  entry.  No.  898,  octavo,  Philad. 
Lib.  t  Viod.  of  the  Bishop  of  L.  and  Gov.  p.  146,  147,  edition  of  A.  D. 
1733. 


Of  their  Religious  Tenets.  §93 

they  detail,  furnish  additional  proof  that  their  leading  tenet  re- 
specting the  scriptures,  has  diffused  this  spirit.  We  have  only  to 
open  the  narratives  of  Rathbone  and  of  Evans  to  see  this.  Them- 
selves the  advocates  of  this  principle,*  thej  bring  forward  facts 
to  show  that  the  pestilential  spirit  has  spread  its  ravages,  espe- 
cially in  Ireland.  Deism  was  advocated  in  the  national  meeting 
there  in  1797,  and  met  with  a  feeble  opposition;  at  the  next  an- 
nual meeting  some  offenders  were  excluded,  and  an  order  was 
issued  that  an  edition  of  the  Apology  should  be  published  to  check 
the  growing  evil.  But  in  the  same  decree,  in  the  fatal  spirit  of  that 
very  Apology,  they  avowed  the  deistical  sentiment  that  "  the 
scriptures  are  writings  xvhich  are  only  a  secondary  rule  under  the. 
spirit  of  truth.''''  And  by  the  "  spirit  of  truth,"  every  Quaker 
knows  the  light  within  is  meant.  The  followers  of  Herbert  from 
Hume  to  Paine  call  it  reason  or  conscience.^ 

Rathbone  did  assure  the  society,  (and  he  spoke  from  deep 
experience,)  that  the  publishing  of  the  Apology  would  have  an 
effect  exactly  the  reverse  of  what  they  wished.J 

This  state  of  matters,  in  Ireland,  was  announced  to  the  annual 
meeting  in  London.  In  a  debate  on  a  certificate  given  to  a  pro- 
phetess who  had  actually  ventured  to  advocate  the  divine  war- 
rant of  the  Jewish  wars  under  Moses  and  Joshua,  which  certifi- 
cate had  been  given  by  the  annual  meeting  of  Ireland,  it  was 
Stated  by  a  leading  member,  (in  the  face  of  the  meeting  in 
London,)  that  the  select,  or  national  meeting  of  ministers  in  Ire- 
land, was  in  such  a  state  that  nothing  was  of  any  account  which 
came  from  it.§ 

It  is  not  supposed  that  the  resemblance  between  the  Friend 
and  the  Deist  extends  over  every  item  of  their  systems.  Nothing 
can  be  more  different  than  their  style  and  language.  The  Friend 
quotes  scripture.  His  language  abounds  with  it.  He  speaks  in 
an  imposing  form  of  Christ ;  of  his  death  ;  of  his  atonement ;  of 
his  salvation.il     Language,  however,  is  but  the  arbitrary  signs 

♦  Rathb.  Nar.  p.  175,  &c.  f  See  the  papers  of  Hancock,  Shackleton 
•with  the  Na'".  of  Rathbone  and  of  Evans  (Phil.)  p.  27.  See  the  Report 
of  the  committee  of  the  Natl.  An.  meetme  of  Ireland,  A.  D.  1798.  The 
Extr.  in  Rathbone's  Nar.  p.  53.  "  %  Rathb.  Nar.  p.  53  and  101 

§  Rathb.  N;ir.  p.  109,  and  of  his  Memorial,  p.  92.  |j  See  chap.  vii. 

Sect.  2  and  3,  preceding. 


^94  Of  the  Moral  Tendency 

of  our  ideas.  Make  the  Friend  define  his  terms.  Ask  him  what 
Christ  he  speaks  of?  What  is  the  atonement?  What  is  salvation? 
*'  Uno  ore  nobiscum  loqui  videntur,  sed  ludunt  tantum  oRquivocationi- 
hus  ad  decipiendas  idiotas  comparatis.^^* 

In  defiance  of  the  ditference  of  style  they  are  strongly  asso- 
ciated with  Deists.  And  though  they  come  forward  as  different 
sects,  they  make  their  force  bear  on  the  common  enemy  with 
the  deadly  aim  of  a  combined  power.  The  Deist  has  excluded 
from  his  meagre  system  the  most  holy  doctrine  of  Trinity.  The 
Friend  does  the  same — only  he  admits  what  resembles  the 
Platonic  triad  as  modified  by  Sabellius  or  by  Socinus.  The 
Deist  denies  the  necessity  of  an  atonement  by  the  shedding  of 
blood.  Penn  does  the  same  in  the  most  decided  and  forcible 
terms.t  The  Deist  denies  the  truth  of  the  atonement.  The  Friend 
does  the  same.  But  he  has  the  sufferings,  the  death,  the  atone- 
ment of  the  Christ  within  him.  The  Deist  rejects  the  permanent 
office  of  the  holy  ministry.  The  Friend  does  the  same.  But 
admits  that  the  inspired  brother  may  exhort  when  he  is  moved. 
The  Deist  rejects  the  holy  Sabbath.  The  Friend  denies  the 
olivine  warrant  to  keep  it  holy — and  makes  "  all  days  alike.'* 
The  Deist  has  rejected  the  holy  sacraments.  The  Friend  does 
the  same.  But  he  satisfies  himself  that  he  has  an  inward  bap- 
tism, and  an  inward  supper.  Each  of  these  sects  has  put  into 
the  breast  of  all  men,  independent  of  the  holy  scriptures,  a  suf- 
ficient rule  and  guide  to  happiness.^  On  this  principle,  as  a 
most  natural  consequence,  each  of  them  is  hostile  to  Bible 
societies,  and  to  missionary  enterprises.  This  inward  principle, 
each  contends,  may  be  called  Logos.  They  differ  as  to  the  name 
it  ought  to  assume  in  the  lips  of  the  vulgar.  The  Deist  will 
render  it  reason.  The  Friend  calls  it  Christ,  or  light,  or  spirit. 
The  Deist  makes  this  being  or  thing  to  display  its  energies  in 
every  man — Turk,  savage,  and  christian.  The  Friend  gives  it 
equal  powers.  The  Deist  exalts  it  alx)ve  scripture.  The  Qua- 
ker docs  the  same.  The  march  of  intellect,  and  the  reign  of 
reason  is  the  salvation  of  the  Deist.     The  rising  up  of  this  light 

*  Cloppenburgii  Gangrxna,  A.  D.  1645,  p.  2.  f  His  '♦  Sandy  Foun- 
flation  Shaken."  And  chap.  7,  sect.  1  and  2,  of  this  work.  i  Hence 

their  abuse  of  those  texts  :  1  Cor.  xii.  7.  Titus  ii.  11, 


Of  their  Religious  Tenets,  S99 

inwardly^  is  that  of  the  Quaker.*  The  Deist  stands  insulated 
from  the  whole  religious  world ;  and  frowns  defiance  and  con- 
tempt on  every  sect.  The  Quaker  has  hitherto  rejected  every 
overture  of  fellowship  with  the  churches,  and  preached  the 
bitterest  sarcasms  on  our  ministry  and  our  solemn  ordinances ! 

3.  Their  grand  tenet  of  the  universal  inward  light  has  a  ten- 
dency to  destroy  rational  and  true  religion.  "  The  rising  up  of 
this  lighf^  is,  with  them,  the  resurrection  of  Christ:  another  of  its 
movements  is  his  sufferings  and  death.  They  who  never  heard 
of  the  history  of  our  Lord  have  the  atonement  within  them.t 
Pagans  though  "  blinded  in  their  minds,  and  burdened  by  super- 
stition, are  united  to  the  Lord."  "  Their  salvation  is  effected 
without  the  knowledge  of  Christ  in  the  gospel,  as  persons  are 
cured  by  medicines  which  operate  in  them,  though  they  know 
neither  their  nature  nor  their  name."|  Thus  the  purity  of  re- 
ligion is  not  inconsistent  with  pagan  superstition  :  nor  the  gloom 
of  ignorance  with  devotion.  Thus  religion  is  not  the  result  of  a 
clear  mind,  and  a  sound  judgment,  inve.-tigating,  believing,  and 
acting.  It  is  a  mere  mechanical  operation  of  a  foreign  power  or 
substance  within,  called  "  the  Light,"  producing  certain  unde- 
fined effects  in  the  region  of  the  mind ;  while  the  devotee  is  left 
as  ignorant  of  religion  and  of  morals,  as  the  patient  is  of  the 
composition  of  his  cathartic ! 

Thus  the  church  invisible  is  composed  of  a  medley  of  charac- 
ters, and  of  jarring  elements.  Some  are  redeemed  by  the  only 
Lord  and  Saviour — others  by  the  energies  of  the  light.  Some 
are  saved  through  the  knowledge  and  belief  of  the  truth:  others, 
though  adults,  are  destitute  of  both.  Some  are  the  sons  of  God 
without  rebuke  in  the  midst  of  impiety  and  crime :  others  arc 
superstitious  pagans  in  life — and,  dying,  "  they  curse  their  king 
and  their  gods,  and  look  upward  /" 

4.  Their  general  principles  are  hostile  to  the  practice  of 
brotherly  love  and  charity.  They  have  drawn  around  them- 
selves a  trench  deep  and  wide.  Within  this  they  have  en- 
trenched themselves.  And,  in  this  age  of  concord,  they  approach 
no  sect  of  Christians.     They  place  themselves  in  a  state  as  in- 

♦  See  chap.  vii.  sect.  3,  preceding.  f  Apol.  Prop.  x.  sect.  2,  4. 

X  Apol.  Prop.  V.  and  vi.  sect.  25. 


29S  Of  the  Moral  Tendency 

sulated  as  the  Jews.  The  spirit  of  their  fathers  reared  this 
barrier ;  and  taught  them  this  bigotry.  "  He,"  (the  pope,)  "  and 
yoii,''''  (protestants,)  said  Fox,  "  are  apostatized  from  the  infallible 
spirit  of  the  apostles  in  which  we  have  come.^''*  "  Our  holy  religion.,^^ 
said  Penn,  "  has  God  for  its  father,  and  victory  for  its  offspring.^''] 
"  We  know  that  we  are  of  God,  and  all  who  oppose  our  testimony'''' 
(of  the  light  within,)  ''  are  in  the  gall  of  bitterness  and  bond  of 
iniquity. ''"'X  Even  the  enlightened  Barclay  lets  himself  down 
among  the  sins  of  bigotrj'.  He  proscribes  the  whole  protestant 
church.  They  are  all  destitute  of  the  spirit  of  religion.  They 
are  all  overrun  with  error — and  need  the  hand  of  the  reformer, 
as  much  as  the  Romish  church. §  And  Penn,  with  the  thunder  of 
the  Vatican,  sweeps  away  her  ministry,  and  her  sacraments, 
and  her  existence.|| 

These  sentiments,  uncharitable  as  they  are,  and  worthy  of  a 
Spanish  inquisition,  the  society  have,  with  scrupulous  exactness, 
brought  into  all  their  practice.  They  have  no  fellowship  with 
the  christian  world.  They  never  unite  in  prayer  with  them. 
They  never  enter  their  temples.  They  never  bid  them  God 
speed.  They  never  accept  of  a  God  speed  from  them.  They 
will  not  give  a  child  in  marriage,  to  a  member  of  any  christian 
society.  They  will  receive  none  in  marriage,  unless  they  re 
nounce  even  the  scruples  of  their  conscience.  They  denounce 
the  children  of  their  own  bowels  if  they  frequent  a  christian 
church.  They  sternly  deny  them  the  liberty  of  conscience  to 
read  the  books  of  other  societies.  They  disown  them  if  they 
marry  out  of  the  society.  And  they  command  the  parents  of 
disowned  youth,  not  "  to  entertain  or  even  to  comfort  them. "IF 
Some  of  their  enlightened  members  have  lamented  this  state  of 
things.  But  the  voice  of  lovely  charity  has  been  hitherto 
drowned  in  the  tumultuous  clamours  of  bigotry.  And  yet,  with 
an  amiable  kind  of  inconsistency,  they  assume  the  title  of 
Friends:  and  they  are  kind  and  obliging  in  their  intercourse 
with  the  world. 


•  "Great  Myst.  Anc."  Edit.  p.  105.  "Snake,"  &c.  p.  37.  t  Vol. 
ii.  228.  +  Vol.  ii.  p.  194.  §  Apol.  Prop.  xiii.  sect.  1.  \\  Vol.  ii. 
pp.  91©,  911.  'f  Rathbone's  Narrative,  p.  42,  44,  45,  &c.  Appendix, 
No.  5. 


Of  their  Jleligious  Tenets.  297 

3.  Their  tenets  are  hostile  to  the  sciences. 

The  society,  to  speak  in  general  terms,  have  not  permitted  the 
Muses  to  find  a  residence  among  them.  They  make  little  account 
of  the  humane  and  moral  effects  of  science  ;  and  still  less  of  that 
noble  and  intellectual  gratification  which  men  of  learning  enjoy 
in  the  pursuits  of  science.  They  fix  the  value  of  the  sciences  by 
a  peculiar  standard — that  standard  is  a  certain  kind  of  utility. 
Such  is  that  spirit  which  guides  their  decisions,  that  nothing  comes 
up  to  its  measure  which  is  not  positively  connected  with  business 
and  the  means  of  gain.  They  are  strangers  to  the  languages ; 
they  despise  the  rules  of  polished  composition  and  eloquence ; 
logic  and  philosopliy  disgust  them;  the  science  and  art  of  music, 
which  has  charms  for  the  savage,  and  raptures  for  the  polished 
mind,  have  not  charms  for  them  -,  chemistry  and  physics  are  not 
utterly  rejected,  they  are  valuable  guides  in  the  path  of  gain. 
Of  mathematics,  the  solitary  branch  which  treats  of  number&N 
meets  with  patrons ;  and  a  graceful  leger  is  generally  preferred 
to  the  fairest  course  of  science. 

This  is  not  the  accidental  whim  of  caprice.  Their  principles 
breathe  a  spirit  of  hostility  to  the  liberal  sciences.  They  deem 
it  presumptuous  and  unholy  to  undertake  the  defence  of  spirituals 
by  the  mere  labours  of  mortal  intellect ;  and  the  case  will  be 
made  still  worse  if  that  intellect  has  been  polished  by  human 
means.*  Their  light  within  is  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  support 
in  all  defensive  operations;  human  ingenuity  and  ratiocination 
can  add  nothing  to  its  energies  :  and  if  the  dead  languages  should 
be  necessary,  even  that  help  will  be  vouchsafed  by  the  "  Light. " 
This  is  not  conjecture.  The  learned  Barclay  has  assured  us  that 
a  Friend,  so  illiterate  that  he  could  not  even  read,  actually  cor- 
Tected  a  Hebrew  quotation  made  by  a  learned  professor  :t  and  if 
an  illiterate  man,  why  not  other  men  ?  If  Hebrew  roots  are  thus 
at  the  skilful  controul  of  this  "  Light,'^  why  not  the  whole  of  the 
arcana  of  nature  ?| 

This  hostility  to  learning  is  hereditary.     "  All  languages  are 
to  me  as  dust,"§  said  their  founder.     And  in  the  days  of  Crom- 

*  Hence  their  cant  about "  college  made  ministers."        f  Apol.  Prop, 
iii.  sect.  4,  and  x.  sect.  19.  See  note  B.  apnendix.  %  As  Behmen 

(Life,  &c.  by  Okely,  p.  23,  112.  117,)  and  G.  Fox  (Journal  i.  p.  105)  did 
actually  believe  '         §  Fox's  Bcttledoor,  see  the  Introduction. 

41 


^9^  Of  the  Moral  Tendency 

well,  Fox  gave  a  practical  comment  on  these  words,  by  placing 
himself  in  the  front  of  those  who  would  have  quenched  the  light 
of  science  by  a  decisive  blow.  He  addressed  the  populace  in 
this  style:  "  I  declare,  in  the  presence  of  God,  that  magistrates 
that  are  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  will  break  down  mass  houses, 
and  schools,  and  colleges  in  which  you  make  ministers."*  Penn 
would  spare  the  schools,  but  he  would  turn  the  colleges  and  uni- 
versities into  desolation.!  And  the  mild  Barclay  is  transformed 
into  a  Goth  against  literature.  "  It  is  more  hurtful  than  usefuV 
As  "ybr  logic  and  philosophy''''  they  ought  to  be  '■forgotten  and  /o5^" 
For  systematic  divinity  it  "  is  a  monster ;  it  is  man  in  his  devilish 
zmsdom'^ — Nay  "  it  is  the  devil  obscuring  the  knowledge  of  God.'^''X 
The  labours  of  the  leaders  were  not  lost  on  the  populace  ;  while 
they  applauded  their  zeal,  they  yielded  themselves  to  the  undis- 
turbed repose  of  easy  contented  ignorance. 

Yet  how  inconsistent  is  human  nature  even  when  guided  by  in- 
spirations !  In  the  intervals  of  this  Gothic  fury  against  letters, 
Penn  has  quoted  Rabbis,  and  Latins,  and  Greeks!  Barclay  is 
ever  on  the  catch  to  overwhelm  his  antagonist  by  Latin,  and  syl- 
logisms, and  the  Fathers !  Fox  relieved  his  paroxysms  of  anger 
against  learning  by  publishing  eight  books  in  Latin,  and  a  polyglott.^ 
And  the  Quakers  are  the  only  sect  known  to  have  become  mar- 
iyrs  and  confessors  for  the  strict  and  grammatical  use  of'-''  thou  and 
theeir 

The  efiecLs  of  this  hostility  to  the  sciences  is  strongly  marked 
on  the  features  of  the  society  at  this  day ;  they  have  few  men  of 
science  ;||  they  have  no  literary  societies ;  they  have  no  periodi- 

•  See  Fox's  "  Papists''  Strenffl/i,"  printed  in  tlie  year  1658,  and  "  Snake 
in  the  Grass,"  p.  219.  And  the  fury  of  Fox  and  his  associates  was  fol- 
lowed up  by  an  "Address  to  Parliament,"  on  the  same  subject,  signed  by 
"  roOO  handmtiids  and  daui^htcrs  of  the  Lord." 

f  Vol.  ii.  p.  56.  %  Apol.  Prop.  x.  sect.  15,  20,  21.  When  free  from 
the  bias  of  the  sect,  Barclay  advocated  schools  and  learning.     Sect.  15. 

§  The  polyglott  had  the  name  of  Fox  attached  to  each  page.  It  cer- 
tainly was  his  polyglott ;  for  it  was  discovered  that  a  Jew  received  his  full 
price  for  it.  "  Snake,"  p.  84. 

II  It  is  pleasing  to  have  some  brilliant  exceptions.  Lindley  Murray, 
the  philosophical  Waring  (Miller's  Retrosp.  vol.  i.  43.)  Doctor  Birk- 
beck,  Anthony  Purver  (Lempr.  Biog.  Diet.)  Gummere,  Dr.  Jones,  Pro- 
fessor Griscom,  8cc.  But  we  can  allow  them  no  more  merit  in  producing 
these,  than  what  they  will  claim  for  giving  us  two  of  our  favourite  Gen- 
erals— General  Green,  and  General  Brown  of  the  U.  S.  Army. 


Of  their  Religious  Tenets,  299 

cal  publications;*  they  have  no  learned  academies;  they  have 
no  colleges ;  they  have  produced  no  learned  works.  There  is  a 
peculiar  vacancy  of  mind  in  their  leading  men,  and  a  want  of 
disposition  or  unfitness  to  support  a  conversation  on  a  topic  of  his- 
tory or  the  sciences. 

In  the  domestic  circle  and  around  the  festive  board,  this  fea- 
ture assumes  a  more  marked  form  ;  there  are,  occasionally,  long 
and  dreary  pauses  in  the  conversation ;  the  lips  of  all  the  party 
are  sealed  in  an  obstinate  taciturnity.  The  world  had  assigned 
as  the  natural  cause  of  this,  their  limited  edu  cation,  and  a  conse- 
quent barrenness  of  idea.  But  Clarkson  has  the  merit  of  invent- 
ing the  true  cause.  He  gravely  tells  us,  that  the  party  is  retired 
into  themselves,  and  are  waiting  for  supernatural  impulses !  Na- 
ture, the  philosophers  tell  us,  abhors  a  vacuum;  and  it  is  very  na- 
tural that  the  human  mind  in  a  state  of  vacuum.,  should  crave  re- 
plenishment from  some  source.  If  the  common  means  resorted 
to  by  philosophers  and  christians  should  be  refused  as  too  de- 
grading; if  holy  revelations  should  be  denied  to  them — even 
like  Saul,  it  will  court  the  presence  and  commerce  of  unearth- 
ly beings,  and  bow  down  at  the  shrine  of  demons! 

6.  Their  doctrine  of  infallibility  has  a  pernicious  tendency. 
The  elders  of  the  society  have  claimed  this  attribute  :  and  they 
have  maintained  their  defence  with  no  common  warmth.  The 
force  of  argument  and  the  edge  of  satire  have  driven  them  from 
the  high  ground  which  they  assumed  at  first.  But  they  still  hold, 
in  an  obstinate  manner,  a  qualified  infallibility.  They  lay  down 
this  position.  "  The  infallible  spirit  is  given  to  every  one  of  us.^^ 
Their  proof  is  this.  "  The  spirit  is  infallible."  Each  of  us  has 
the  spirit.  Each  of  us,  therefore,  is  infallible.!  They  do  not  say, 

*  Thai  is  exclusively  their  own.  The  "  Philanthropist"  was  conduct- 
ed chiefly  by  Friends.  1817. 

t  This  syllogism  has  a  fatal  chasm  in  it.  They  do  not  establish  the 
identity  of  their  s/iirit  with  the  Holy  (r/iost.  And,  if  their  spirit  were  in- 
fallible, that  does  not  prove  that  he  leads  them  in  an  infallible  manner. 
Clarkson,  in  his  panegyric  of  the  sect,  has  strangely  omitted  their  attri- 
bute of  infallibility.  If  any  doubt  the  fact  of  tliis  claim,  I  refer  for  proof 
to  Barclay's  works,  Lond.  1692,  p.  893.  His  Anarchy  of  Ranters,  p.  84, 
88.  Pcnn",  vol.  ii.  106,  126,  241,  252,  263,  330.  Pennington,  vol.  ii.  p.  674. 
Fox's  Great  Myst.  Epist.  to  the  reader,  p.  7,  and  p.  33,  &c.  GnfF.  Jour. 
189.  Rathl).  Na'r.  append.  No.  vi.  66,  70,  &c.  The  two  branches  of  this 
doctrine,  are  1.  That  of  their  sinless  perfection.  2,  Tliat  of  discerning 
spirits. 


300  Of  the  Moral  Tendency^  ^'c. 

that  the  man  is  infallible.  But  he  has  this  spirit  in  him.  And  in 
proportion  as  he  adheres  to  its  dictates,  he  acts  and  judges  in  a 
manner  infallibly  correct. 

"  This  doctrine  of  infallibility,"  says  a  sensible  writer,  who 
was  once  a  leading  Quaker — "  even  thus  qualified  and  limited,  is, 
under  the  influence  of  enthusiasm  and  credulity,  as  liable  to 
abuse  as  absolute  infallibility.  It  is  impalpable  to  all  grasp.  It 
eludes  all  inquiry.  It  acknowledges  no  definite  connexion  with 
persons,  places,  or  time.  It  admits  of  no  test  by  which  the  va- 
lidity of  its  claims  can  be  fairly  ascertained.  And,  finally,  it 
resolves  itself  into  an  accommodating  truism  of  no  practical  use ; 
that  they  who  are  infallible  must  be  right.  And  the  competent 
judges  of  their  practice  and  opinions,  are  those  only  who  concur 
with  them.''* 

From  this  dangerous  tenet  has  originated  the  self-sufficiency 
that  marks  the  leaders  of  the  sect.  Hence  that  spirit  with  which 
they  view  every  other  sect  of  christians.  Hence  that  unblushing 
confidence  with  which  their  illiterate  deaconesses  and  deacons 
can  address  a  public  assemblj^  Hence  it  is  that  the  mind  of 
the  Friend  is  entrenched  within  his  hereditary  opinions,  and 
bids  defiance  to  argument  and  persuasion.  Hence  that  peculiar 
feature  in  their  devotions.  The  printed  and  the  spoken  prayers 
of  their  prophets  afford  no  instance  of  the  confession  of  sin,  and 
contrition  for  the  weakness  and  corruption  of  their  nature.! 
Hence  that  peculiar  character  of  their  writings.  They  never 
retract.  They  defend  every  sentiment,  the  most  crude  and  con- 
tradictory that  has  fallen  from  the  pen  of  fanaticism.  Penn  has 
professedly  defended  every  feature  of  Fox's  inspirations  !J 

*Rathb.  Nar.  Appendix,  No.  vi.  p.  66.  f  See  chap.  ii.  sect.  2, 

preceding.  %  See  vol.  ii.  pp.  119,   139,  146,  147,  191,  216,  434,  541, 

&c.  It  was  on  this  principle  that  the  society,  in  1711,  resisted  the  at- 
tempt to  review  and  correct  the  hooks  of  Friends.  They  reasoned  a 
priori.  Since  they  were  written  by  the  infaUible  spirit,  there  could  be 
no  error  in  them . 


THE  CONCLUSION. 


"  MtyaXm  etTroXiiriunei'i  ojuui  ivyud;  a.f*ctfrti[A.u.    — LoXGINUS. 


This  history  of  the  opinions  of  the  Friends,  and  of  their  or- 
ganization as  a  separate  sect,  and  of  the  moral  tendency  of 
their  system,  I  now  bring  to  a  close.  I  lay  it  at  the  feet  of  my 
Divine  Master,  and  implore  his  benediction  on  it. 

I  have  not  lessened,  nor  have  I  aggravated,  from  design, 
aught  of  their  peculiar  system.  1  have  laboured  to  come  at  the 
truth,  so  far  as  I  could  trace  it  through  so  many  obscure  wind- 
ings. Much  pains  have  been  taken  to  quote  correctly.  With 
the  labour  and  pains  of  many  years  our  doctrinal  and  historical 
indices  were  filled  up  from  every  writer,  of  any  name,  in  the 
society.  In  these  their  different  opinions  Avere  collated.  These 
I  have  had  before  me  with  the  best  editions  of  their  favourite 
authors  which  I  could  obtain. 

The  society's  attention  I  cannot  expect.  They  are  as  rigor- 
ous as  the  holy  father  and  cardinals  of  Rome  in  framing  their 
index  expurgatorius.  With  them  there  is  no  practical  liberty  of 
the  press.  Their  internal  polity  takes  it  utterly  away.  Our 
people  read  both  sides  of  the  question.  They  absolutely  pro- 
hibit their  youth,  and,  indeed,  members  in  general,  from  look- 
ing into  any  book  not  of  their  iyidex.  From  the  year  1676,  their 
monthly  and  quarterly  meetings  are  enjoined  to  "  keep  an  exact 
account  what  priests  and  others  have  written  books  against  Friends.''''* 
And  the  person  and  name,  not  the  book,  is  usually  held  up  to 
view.  Their  people  durst  not,  and,  generally  speakings  cannot  read 
our  books.  They  would  be  persecuted  even  to  expiiision — if, 
asserting  their  natural  rights,  they  would  think  for  ihem  elves. 
Their  opinions  become  hereditarj.  They  manage  the  mritter  by 
proxy  !  And  even  many  of  their  leading  members  and  pi'eachers 

♦  Lond.  Epist.  for  A.  D.  1676. 


302  The  Conclusion. 

will  hardly  venture  themselves.  If  they  are  hardy  enough — it 
is  somewhat  after  the  godly  example  of  the  abbot  of  St.  Cyran, 
who  never  took  up  a  book  of  the  heretics  without  going  through 
the  process  of  exorcising  the  devil  out  of  it, 

"  Sed  fortasse  nos  non  canimus  surdis." 

The  regard  of  the  christian  world  is  respectfully  solicited  to 
this  historical  review  of  the  Quaker  system.  Men,  brethren  and 
fathers,  examine  and  clecide  for  yourselves.  I  place  it  in  your 
hands  with  diffidence  and  respect. 

If  these  statements  be  correct,  as  it  is  honestly  believed  that 
they  are,  it  will  be  no  difficult  matter  to  form  a  just  idea  of  the 
system.  Of  their  amiable  virtues  we  speak  not.  Those  merit 
every  praise.  Of  their  admirable  civil  polity,  embracing  their 
internal  and  external  polity,  we  say  nothing  which  is  not  tem- 
pered with  respect,  and  even  applause.  But  their  religious 
system,,  and  their  christian  aspect,  we  hold  up  to  view,  as  those 
of  a  sect  making  the  most  inordinate  pretensions  and  claims. 

From  this  exhibition  of  facts,  it  is  seen  that  their  system  com- 
bines, in  one  heterogeneous  mass,  almost  every  species  of  heresy 
and  error,  ancient  and  modern :  that  with  Saccas  they  arc  mys- 
tics— and  have  excluded  some  of  the  most  sacred  institutions  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ:  that  with  Sabellius  they  are  Sabellians, 
on  the  most  sacred  doctrine  of  Trinity,  and  the  distinct  divine 
persons :  that  with  Pciagius  they  are  Pelagians :  that  with  Ar- 
minius,  they  are  Arminians  on  the  doctrine  of  grace:  that  with 
Paul  of  Samoseta,  and  the  Ebionites,  and  the  two  Socini,  they 
are  Unitarians,  and  reject  from  their  creed  the  most  sacred 
Trinity,  and  the  distinct  personality  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  the 
atonement ;  that  with  Origen  and  others  of  modern  name  they 
are  Univcrsalists.  And  j^et,  in  the  modification  of  these  senti- 
ments, there  are  so  many  repulsive  materials  wrought  up  in 
them,  that  the  society  can  never  amalgamate  with  any  one  of 
all  these  sects.  They  cannot  even  approximate  to  a  friendly 
communion  with  any  sect  within  or  without  the  limits  of  the 
visible  church  !  "  Arise^  0  God  !  plead  thine  07im  cause — lift  up 
Ihy  feet  unfo  the  perpetual  desolations,  even  all  that  the  enemy  hath 


The  Conclusion.  303 

done,  wickedly  in  the  sanctuary*  They  have  cast  fire  into  thy  sanc- 
tuary ;  they  have  defiled,  by  casting  down,  the  dwelling  place  of  thy 
name  unto  the  ground.  Turn  us  again,  O  God,  and  cause  thy  face 
to  shine,  and  we  shall  be  saved.  Thou  shalt  arise  and  have  mercy 
on  Zion.  For  the  time  to  favour  her,  yea,  the  set  time,  is  come .'" — 
Psalm  Ixxiv.  &c. 


THE  END. 


APPENDIX  1. 

Note  Ji.^Sect.  14,  Part  I. 

John  Brown  was  banished  Nov.  6,  1662:  and  died  in  Holland, 
1679,  of  a  lingering  disease.  The  king  i»f  England  exerted  his  in- 
fluence to  get  him  banished  from  Holland,  but  the  states  protected 
him.  The  friends  of  Barclay  and  of  Quakerism  have  atfected  to 
consider  Brown  as  a  rustic  and  illiterate  man.  Nothing  can  be 
more  erroneous.  See  Mr.  Ward's  character  of  him,  (and  he  knew 
him  well.)  "  He  was  eminent  in  grace  and  learning,  and  of  great 
natural  powers  ;  a  man  of  undaunted  courage  in  opposing  corrup- 
tion and  error;  and  jealous  for  the  Lord  of  Hosts  above  all  his 
brethren."     Pref.  to  Brown  on  the  Romans. 

Cruikshanks  calls  him  "the  learned,  zealous  and  pious  Brown." 
Hist.  vol.  1.  p.  134.  The  illustrious  and  learned  Leydecker,  Pro- 
fessor of  Theology  at  Utrecht,  has  given  a  character  of  Brown  io 
his  preface  to  Brown  on  Justification.  "  His  praise  lives  deserv- 
edly in  the  churches,  and  his  light  shone  in  our  low  countries: 
having  been  banished  his  native  land  for  his  zeal,  piety,  faithtul- 
ness  and  good  conscience.  He  wrote  with  a  great  deal  of  wis- 
dom," &c.  &c.  &c. 

F.  Spanheim  Filius,  whom  Professor  Leydecker  calls  "  the  most 
famous  divine  of  that  age,"  was  a  warm  friend  of  Brown,  and  gave 
his  public  approbation  of  him  as  a  writer.  The  learned  professor 
applauded  Brown's  book  on  the  '-'Morality  of  the  Sabbath."  Brown 
was  succeeded  in  his  pastoral  charge  in  Rotterdam,  by  Fleming^ 
the  author  of  "  the  Fulfilling  of  the  Scriptures.'' 

Note  B.—Sect.  25,  Part  I. 

Keith. — After  this  rupture,  the  society  poured  its  vials  of  wrath 
©n  "poor  Keith's"*  head.  And  individuals  uttered  their  personal 
anathemas.  The  prophetical  curse  of  the  inflammable  Whitehead 
was  the  most  intemperate.  See  "  The  Snake,"  &c.  sect.  20,  for  a 
copy  of  it. 

After  this,  Keith  was  reconciled  in  the  church  of  England;  and 
became  a  regular  priest.     In  the  years  1702,  1703,  1704,  he  per- 

*  The  term  used  by  the  writers  of  the  society  after  the  rupture  :  while 
"  honest  George,"  when  in  good  standing-,  was  applauded  for  his  '« learning  and 
Platonic  studies."    bee  Penn's  letter  to  Turner.  *'  Snake,"  &c.  p.  3:^2. 

1 


2  Jippendix  1. 

formed  an  important  and  successful  mission  on  the  American  con- 
tinent, under  the  care  of  the  Episcopal  Society  for  propagating  the 
gospel  in  foreign  parts.  His  services  were  attended  with  a  signal 
divine  blessing  in  Pennsylvania  and  Jersey.  During  this  service, 
and  by  his  former  labours  among  the  Quakers,  seven  hundred  Qua- 
kers were  converted  from  their  errors  and  ivere  baptized.  See  Dr. 
Humphry's  Hist,  of  the  above  society :  Lond.  A.  D.  1730.  And 
Christ.  Observer  for  April,  1816.* 

Note  C.—Part  11.  Chap.  I.  p.  21. 

ON  ORACLES,  IMPULSES,  &C. 

".  . . .  They  were  often  of  a  salutary  and  moral  tendency."  They 
did  sometimes  preserve  the  lives  and  liberties  of  a  people;  they 
sometimes  prevented  wars  and  the  effusion  of  blood.  Pausan. 
Greece,  vol.iii.  p.  6,  240.  vol.  iii.p.  69.  edit.  1794,  translated.  They 
marked  out  men  who  were  the  saviours  of  their  country.  Cornel. 
Nep.  vit.  Miltiadis  :  and  the  fall  of  great  men.  Niceph.  Cal.  Eccles. 
flist.  vol.  i.  p.  512.  fol.  Tacitus  Annal,  lib.  ii.  cap.  54.  Sueton. 
vita  Domitiani. 

Those  of  the  ancients  who  aspired  to  philosophical  views  of  this 
subject,  were  much  divided  on  the  character  of  oracles.  The  most 
rational  and  virtuous  sects  did  not  ascribe  them  to  evil  demons. 
The  docirine  of  evil  demons  seemed  to  form  no  part  of  the  system 
of  the  Platonists.  They  considered  them  celestial  beings.  They 
were  the  objects  of  love  and  worship.  See  Plat.  Epinom.  Opera 
ejus,  101 1.  AudOgilvie's  Plat.  Phil. p.  76.  Hence  they  considered 
oracles  to  proceed  from  the  deity,  whose  messengers  these  demons 
were.  "Oracles  are  ever  from  God, says  Aristotle,  k«///»  j8»AT/5-«/f," 
«.  T.  X.  •'  And  that  he  sends  them  not  to  the  best  and  the  wisest, 
but  to  men  as  it  may  happen,  is  an  absurd  conceit."  Aristot.  De 
Divin.  &.C.  cap.  i.  Spencer  on  Vulgar  Proph.  &c.  p.  41.  Besides 
the  sect  of  the  Platonics,  the  Stoics  embraced  these  sentiments, 
and  advocated  tlie  divinity  of  oracles.  Ou  the  other  side,  the  sects 
of  the  Cynics,  Peripateticv!  and  Epicurians  entered  the  lists.  They 
ascribed  tliem  to  fraud.  They  boldly  ridiculed  the  purelities  and 
ambiguities  of  Delphi.  And  if  we  look  to  their  numbers,  their 
physical  strength,  at  least,  is  not  small.     Euseb.  Evangel.  Prepar. 

•  For  an  account  of  some  of  the  principal  books,  published  during  the 
Keithian  controversy,  see  a  curious  MS.  no.  1413,  Philad.  Library,  vol.  i.  p. 
23.  W.  small  quarto. 


AppendLv  I.  3 

lib.  iv.  mentions  six  hundred  pagan  authors  who  had  written  against 
oracles.  See  Fontenelle's  Hist,  of  Oracles,  (no.  1655,  duodecimo. 
Phila.  Library,  p.  54.)  Of  the  moderns,  the  Dutch  writer  Bekker, 
in  his  book  "  The  World  Bewitched,""  which  made  a  great  noise  in 
the  end  of  the  17th  century,  insists  that  the  spirit  of  Python,  was 
a  good  spirit.  But  Wyenus  refuted  him,  as  F.  A.  Lauipe  shows  us  in 
his  learned  Treatise  concerning  the  QtoTtvssei,  sect.  8.  (Rev.  J.  De 
Witt's  library.)  Fontenelle,  in  his  history  of  oracles,  combats  the 
doctrine  of  oracles  coming  from  the  impulse  of  Demons.  He  ridicules 
the  idea  of  their  being  in  any  way  supernatural.  He  admits,  that 
the  general  belief  of  the  learned,  was  then  against  him.  But  he 
refers  the  current  doctrine  to  the  "  easy  belief"  of  the  primitive 
fathers,  who  originated  it :  and  he  labours  to  make  Cicero  of  his 
sentiment,  "  and  to  spare  nothing  the  most  sacred  at  Rome."  Fon- 
tenelle, p.  6,  61,  &c.  Van  Dale  (De  Idol,  et  Div.  part  3,  cap.  10.) 
has  attempted  to  show,  that  the  whole  is  fraud  and  imposition.  Of 
the  same  opinion  is  the  English  writer  Ady,  and  especially  John 
Webster,  in  his  book  "  of  the  arts  of  Witchcraft,"  chap.  6,  sect.  49. 
And  it  was  deemed  a  suspicious  circumstance,  and  in  their  favour 
that  females,  credulous  and  too  easily  imposed  upon,  were  usually 
employed  to  utter  the  oracles.  Thus,  at  Delphos  the  Pythia;and 
at  Dodona,  as  Strabo  informs  us,  "  three  old  women  gave  them  out." 
And  genuine  witchcraft  is  found  only  among  the  gray  tangled 
hairs,  and  frightful  wrinkles  of  poor,  old  and  crazy  females.  But 
keeping  out  of  view  modern  cases,  Lampe  (De  Theopneustai,  sect. 
6.)  shows  that  the  cases  which  they  quote  will  not  bear  them  out. 
The  one  brought  from  the  sacred  page  makes  clearly  against  them. 
(Acts  xvi.)  The  "  damsel"  had  a  spirit  of  Python.  It  was  a  being 
certainly  distinct  from  her.  And  this  spirit  was  cast  out  of  her  by 
the  apostle,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Some  writers,  leaning 
to  Van  Dale's  sentiment,  are  inclined  to  add  to  fraud,  the  aid  of  a 
natural  or  acquired  habit:  that  of  ventriloquism.  It  is  certain  from 
Plutarch,  (De  Oracul.  Defoe,  p.  414.)  that  with  Greek  writers,  the 
words  vv6a)i  and  iyy*9^tfj.v6iy  are  synonymous.  And  the  derivation 
of  the  former  word  (by  Clerk  in  Lampe,  ut  supra,  sect.  7.)  from  the 
Hebrew  nia  Puth  imus  venter  mulieris :  and  by  Stockius,  lexicon, 
who  adds  spirtus  impuritatis  amansex  imo  ventre  loquitur."  These 
Pythons,  says  Schleusner,  in  verbo,  "  clausis  labiis,  inflatis  buccis, 
tumido  ventre,  vel  humi  jacentes,  vel  tripodi  insidentes  ita  loque- 
bantur  ut  verba  non  ore  proferrentur,  sed  intus  in  pectore  audi- 
rentur,  et  homines  superstitiosi  facile  credebant  alium  in  pectore 


4  *ljjpendiiV  I. 

loqui."  Turieu  opposes  this  in  his  book.  "Des  Dogm."  part  iii. 
Tract  2,  cap.  5.  And  so  does  Dejlingius,  and  also  Wolfius.  "There 
is  'no  evidence,'  say  they,  'that  this  Pythia' used  a  strange  sound. 
She  spoke  with  a  loud  voice."  But  circumstances  persuade  us, 
says  Lampe,  (Theop.  sect.  7.)  that  besides  these  usual  paroxysms  of 
ventriloquists,  she  uttered  words  in  an  ordinary  form  of  speech ; 
"  quie  edocta  sunt  in  ipso  afflatu  diabolico."  Some  ancient  writers 
ascribed  them  to  some  natural  causes  operating  in  the  place  whence 
they  were  given  forth.  Plutarch  wrote  a  treatise  iTfg/  t^v  mMxn- 
iroran  ^^nsufian:  "concerning  the  oracles  that  have  ceased."  [Not 
the  ceasing  of  oracles,  as  too  many  have  rendered  it.  For  unless 
there  be  some  other  evidence,  this  certainly  will  not  prove  that 
oracles  ceased  at  the  introduction  of  Christianity.]  He  ascribes 
the  ceasing  of  some  oracles,  in  part,  to  a  natural  cause.  The  va- 
pour by  which  the  Pythia  became  inebriated  and  frantic,  had  lost 
its  strength.  He  seems  to  have  thought,  that  "  the  divine  vapour" 
inspired  the  oracles.  So  also,  Jamblicus  De  Myst.  Egypt,  p.  66. 
"  Sibvlla  suscipiebat  deum  per  spiritum  tenuem  igneumque  qui 
erumpebat  ex  antri  ore,  &c."  Plin.  Nat.  Hist.  lib.  ii.  p.  93,  and 
Strabo  Geozr.  lib.  ix.  are  of  the  same  opinion:  and  also  Longinus, 
"who  uses  the  epithet  "«tjwoc  tvdio;."  De  Sublim.  sect.  13.*  Pru- 
dentius  also,  who  has  said,  "  Perdidit  insanos  niendax  Dodona  va- 
pf)res."  In  Apoth.  tit.  contra  Jud.  In  perfect  consistency  with 
the  Platonic  idea,  "that  demons  were  pure  subtle  air."  Plat.  Oper. 
Epinom.  p.  1011.)  Aristotle  reconciles  the  two.  The  Sibylls  had 
no  other  inspiration,  no  other  demon  than  "  those  divine  vapours," 
by  which  they  were  agitated.  Aristot.  Probl.  sect.  30.  And  this 
operated  on  them  like  fiery  spirits.  "  Ardebant  torrente  vi  magna 
flammarum."  Anion.  Marcel,  lib.  21.  and  Spencer  on  Vulg.  proph. 
p.  H)6  and  107.  In  farther  proof  of  this,  some  of  the  ancients  state, 
that  at  Abdera  there  were  pasture  fields,  in  which  the  horses  were 
turned  into  a  state  of  fury  and  madness.  Plin.  lib.  25.  c.  8.  AndTuIly 
De  Natura  Deor.  observes,  that  this  vapour  or  atmosphere  affected 
also  the  people  of  the  place,  "  obnoxios  esse  stupori."  Consult 
Templeri  Idea  Theol.  Leviath.  p.  329.  (Queen's  Coll.  Library,  N. 
B.)  Cicero  seems  to  favour  this  doctrine,  where  he  says:  •'  Quid 
tarn  divinura  quam  afflatus  ex  terra  mentem  ita  movens  ut  earn  pro- 
vidam  rerum  futurarum  efficiat ;  ut  ea  non  modo  cernat  multo  ante  ; 

*  "  Ev6«  ^nyfia  iy<  ^»s  «  eivamtiv  ^u.a-ii  «t/xo»  ivd»ev."       Longin.  De  sub 
sect.  13. 


Appendix  I.  5 

sed  etiam  numero  versuque  pronunciet?"  De  Divin.  lib.  2.  But 
in  another  place  lib.  2.  cap.  54,  he  produces  this  very  circumstance 
as  an  argument,  to  prove  that  there  was  "  art  and  contrivance"  at 
least,  in  these  oracles.  For  it  is  physically  impossible,  that  responses 
could  be  made  and  uttered  in  high  wrought  poetry  and  verse,  by  a 
human  being  labouring  under  a  fit  of  epilepsy. 

Some  of  our  divines  are  of  opinion,  that  even  in  the  case  of  some 
among  the  pagans,  the  Holy  Ghost  might  overrule  their  minds ;  and 
bend  them  to  his  own  purpose,  and  give  forth  a  truth  by  them. 
Hieron.  Comment  in  Job.  "Illis,  (he  is  speaking  of  the  prophets 
who  were  not  of  the  true  religion,)  dedit  Deus  verbum  suum,  ut  pro- 
nunciarent  mysteria  futura  hominibus."  Dr.  Owen  (on  the  spirit, 
vol.  i.  book  ii.  ch.  2.  sect  18.)  is  also  of  this  opinion.  And  the  cases 
of  Balaam  and  the  Magi  at  our  Saviour's  birth,  and  the  Pythia 
(Acts  xvi.)  bear  him  sufficiently  out  in  this  point.  For  these  pagans 
uttered  divine  truths  from  neither  their  own  powers  nor  inclina- 
tion, but  by  a  superior  and  divine  power  prompting  them.  He  is 
not  so  fortunate  in  the  next  case  which  he  refers  to,  where  he  says, 
"and  this  must  also  be  acknowledged  by  those  who  believe  that 
the  famous  Sibylls  recorded  predictions  of  our  Lord."  The  ques- 
tion respecting  the  characters  of  these  Sibylls,  and  the  forgery  of 
those  books,  now  bearing  the  name  of  the  "  Sibylline  Oracles,"  is 
now  fairly  settled  ;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  never  again  be  stirred. 
It  is  certain,  that  the  characters  and  the  doctrines  of  these  Sibylls, 
were,  if  we  believe  their  own  writings,  infamous  in  the  greatest  de- 
gree. They  could  not  have  been  from  God.  (See  Prideaux  Connect, 
vol.  iv.book  ix.  part  2.)  And  there  is  in  them  a  minuteness  of  de- 
tail in  their  predictions,  which  is  the  reverse  of  every  divine  pre- 
diction. Even  credulity  itself  must  admit,  that  even  Satan  had  not 
sagacity  enough  to  divine  as  this  expost  facto  prophesyer  does. 
"The  virgin  Mary  shall  conceive  and  bear  a  son,"  says  this  forger, 
pretending  to  deliver  a  prediction  as  old  as  Isaiah,  "And  his  name 
?hall  be  called  Jesus."  Sibyll.  lib.  ii.  Spencer  on  Vuig.  prop.  p.  90. 
The  Jewish  writers  and  the  christian  fathers  have  demonstrated 
this  truth,  that  the  oracles  were  given  out  by  evil  demons.  Euseb. 
Evang.  prop.  Le  Clerc's  Life  of  Euseb.  p.  158.  Lond.  edit,  of  1G96. 
Epiphanius  having  made  a  distinction  between  oeyair/f  i;5rvoy,and  the 
»Ky«9-/5  ^gtvftjy,  refers  the  last  to  the  frantic  prophets,  whose  minds  be- 
came useless,  and  their  speech  incoherent.  Lib.  i.  Contra  Hseres. 
48.    These  heathen  prophets  became  "  og>.«v«y  j»,ft.»6i'^  "  the  orgaa 


6  Appendix  1. 

©f  the  demon.''  When  slow  to  move,  they  used  certain  stimulat- 
ing processes  to  invite  this  influence.  "  The  idolatrous  prophets 
among  the  Jews,"  says  Maimonides,  "used  not  to  prophecy  until 
they  had  used  extatical  solemnities,  and  had  become  frantic  and 
epileptical."  Maim.  Idol.  cap.  6.  sect.  1.  Spencer  p.  36.  This 
was  common  at  Delphi.  And  there  is,  at  least,  one  instance  of  a 
Pythia  expiring  under  the  violent  convulsions  of  one  of  these  fits. 
Plutarch.  De  Defec.  Orac.  and  Lucan  lib.  v.  ver.  17.  Broughton's 
Diet.  Article,  Oracle.  Origen.  Contra  Cels.  lib.  iii.  says,  "  there  are 
evident  demonstrations  of  demons  being  present  in  their  temples 
and  statues,  by  their  rendering  oracles,  by  healing,  by  tormenting 
the  superstitious."  See  also  Dr.  Henry  More's  Myst.  of  Iniquity, 
book  i.  ch.  7.  And  even  Fontenelle's  zeal  against  the  supernatural 
origin  of  oracles,  has  not  prevented  him  from  admitting  that  this 
might  occasionally  be  the  case.  Hist,  of  Orac.  p.  43.  There  are 
striking  specimens  of  this  in  the  prophets  of  Baal  ;  and  in  the  cases 
of  those  "on  whom  there  was  an  evil  spirit  from  the  Lord."  "  Ubi- 
Gunque  spiritus  Domini  malus  dicitur,"  says  father  Augustine,  "in- 
telligitur  diabolus  esse ;  qui  Domini  dicitur  esse  propter  ministe- 
rium,  malus  propter  vitium  dictus  videtur."  Dg  Mirab.  Script. 
Owen,  Spir.  vol.  i.  book  ii.  ch.  1.  "The  devil  did  predict  future 
events,  in  the  oracles,"  says  the  English  Calvin,  Perkins.  And  in 
this  he  supposes  him  to  have  been  guided  by  his  own  insight  into 
the  sacred  scriptures.  In  Daniel  ch.  xi.  3,  for  instance,  there 
is  a  clear  prediction  respecting  Alexander  the  Great.  And  it  is 
certain,  that  the  following  oracle  was  given  out  from  one  of  the 
shrines  to  Alexander,  when  setting  forward  in  his  war  against 
Darius,  the  king  of  Persia.  "  Alexander  shall  be  a  conqueror.^' 
See  Perkin's  curious  and  sober  "  Treatise  on  Witchcrafte,''^  works 
vol.  iii.  part  2.  p.  617.  folio,  A.  D.  1609.  Peucer  in  his  book  "De 
Prsecipuis  Divin.  generibus,"  refers  oracles  to  the  same  origin.  He 
reduces  them  to  two  classes.  ''First:  those  given  forth  from  places 
inhabited  by  devils,  soni/u,  tinnitu,  gestu,  vel  niitu  statuarum.''^ 
"Second:  those  given  forth  by  men  moved  by  a  diabolical  spirit, 
accompanied  by  violent  gestures  and  convulsions."  See  J.  Tem- 
pleri  Idea  Theol.  Leviath.p.  329.  The  following  are  from  Spencer, 
whom  I  have  quoted  so  often.  "  Satan  first  excites  such  images  in 
the  fancies  of  these  prophets,  as  may  probably  determine  them  to 
foretell  many  things  which  he  conceives  most  likely  to  fall  vvithin 
the  sphere  of  his  activity;  and  then  he  accomplishes  as  many  as  he 


Apjiendix  1.  7 

can."  "  When  Satan  finds  a  mind  fitted  by  this  distemper  for  him 
to  work  upon,  to  make  an  imposture  more  fine  and  subtle,  he  maj 
act  it  to  some  expressions,  beyond  the  bare  capacity  of  this  jug- 
gling humour,  as  to  speak  languages;  to  tell  things  at  a  distance, 
as  the  certain  coming  of  a  friend  ;  or  an  epileptic  fit :  the  German 
prophetess  Christina  often  did  this  last."  p.  91  and  108.  And  Cud- 
worth  mentions  out  of  the  Asclepian  dialogue  a  prediction  of  As- 
clepius  respecting  the  fall  of  the  Egyptian  paganism:  and  another 
of  Antoninus  the  philosopher,  on  the  same  subject.  And  Augustin 
remarks  on  the  prediction,  that  it  was  "made  instinctu  falacis 
spiritus,"  by  the  suggestion  of  an  evil  spirit,  who  was  lamenting 
the  approaching  downfall  of  the  empire  of  darkness.  Cudw.  vol. 
i.  book  i.  ch.  4.  See  learned  notes  of  Grotius  on  "  Somnia"  and 
"Spectra,"  in  his  book  De  veritate,  (pp.  78,  79.)  lib.  i.  sect.  17. 

A  dissertation  on  this  subject  and  the  various  phenomena  con- 
nected with  it,  by  a  mind  tutored  by  philosophy  and  theology,  that 
can  rise  equally  above  the  credulity  and  fanaticism  of  olden  times, 
and  the  indolent  and  brainless  scepticism  of  our  times,  is  a  deside- 
ratum in  the  literary  world. 

I  shall  never  advocate  the  vulgar  folly  that  floats  in  society,  and 
peoples  the  world  with  phantoms,  ghosts,  witches,  and  what  is 
worse  than  these,  supports  and  countenances  miserable  impostors, 
under  the  title  of  "  witch  doctors.''^ 

Yet  every  scholar  would  wish  to  see  the  subject  taken  up  in  a 
scriptural  view ;  and  discussed  rigidly  according  to  the  principles 
of  the  Baconian  philosophy.  It  is  certain  that  there  are  spirits  good 
and  evil.  It  is  certain  that  they  communicate  with  each  other. 
It  is  certain  from  scripture  that  they  can  operate  on  mind  and  on 
matter.  It  is  certain  from  the  gospel  that  malevolent  spirits  operate 
in  the  way  of  tormenting  minds  and  bodies.  And  the  pages  of  the 
classics  contain  instances  of  oracular  predictions  by  evil  demons, 
uttered  by  human  lips.  (Cudworth,  vol.  ii.  book  i.  ch.  5.)  Hence 
malevolent  spirits  communicate  with  mind.  Heidan  states  that  in 
Germany,  during  the  confusions  of  the  time  of  the  Anabaptists  of 
Munster,  when  they  had  all  property  in  common,  "  puellas  duas 
esse  quae  revelabant  omnia"  when  any  of  their  members  secreted 
any  of  their  property,  or  did  not  give  it  fully  up.  Bodin.  Mag. 
Demon,  lib.  iii.  ad  Templeri  Idea  Theol.  Lev.  p.  328.  M'Knight 
in  his  Harmony,  Dissert,  on  Demons,  adduces  instances  of  similar 
predictions.  Tacitus  Annal.  lib.  ii.  cap  54,  states  that  the  oracle  of 


S  Jipyendix  1. 

Celaros  predicted  the  untimely  death  of  Germanicus.  And,  what 
is  a  still  raore  remarkable  phenomenon  connected  with  this,  we 
have  decisive  evidence  that  persons,  illiterate  and  diseased,  have 
uttered  languages  of  which  they  had  no  previous  knowledge.  Psel- 
lius  De  Oper.  Daem.  states  what  he  witnessed  in  a  maniacal  woman 
who  knew  nothing  but  her  own  language.  When  an  Armenian 
came  into  the  room  she  "spoke  the  Armenian  language  readily  and 
conversed  with  the  stranger.  Cudworth,  vol.ii.  ch.  5.*  The  learned 
physician  Fernelius  "  de  abditis  rerum  causis,"  states  that  his  pa- 
tient, a  young  nobleman,  after  being  three  months  under  his  me- 
dical care,  and  labouring  under  a  disease  that  baffled  medicine, 
made  exclamations  in  Greek  and  Latin,  and  uttered  distinct  sen- 
tences. He  knew  nothing  of  Greek  previous  to  this.  Cudw.  do. 
M'Knight  in  his  Harmony  quotes  some  more  instances  to  the  same 
purpose.  Melancthom  writes  that  he  had  himself  seen  a  person 
"nescientem  legere"  not  even  able  to  read,  who  yet  spoke  Greek 
and  Latin.  See  Templeri  Idea,  ut  supra.  And  the  Quaker  writer 
Barclay  makes  us  familiar  with  the  case  of  an  illiterate  member 
who  by  the  Spirit  discerned  wrong  translations  from  the  Hebrew 
and  Greek.     Apol.  Prop.  iii.  sect.  4  and  19. 

*  *  *  *  By  thus  excluding  theory  and  adducing  facts  for  everj 
thought  advanced,  we  might  attain  to  a  rational  view  of  the  sub- 
ject. ^  *  *  * 

Note  D.—Part  II.  Chap.  IX. 

John  Toldervy  was  led,  by  a  very  natural  process,  to  suppose  that 
if  the  imvard  light  was  his  only  guide,  it  must  have  the  supervision 
of  his  appetites,  as  well  as  of  his  moral  conduct.  If  he  was  to  give 
up  his  reason  to  its  controul,  then  surely  also  his  appetite,  even  in 
regard  of  the  matter  of  eating  and  drinking.  He  refused  to  eat  un- 
less the  inward  guide  moved  him.  And  the  voice  of  the  appetite 
calling  for  food,  was  considered  as  the  voice  of  the  flesh  or  the  evil 
will  of  man.  In  adhering  to  this  principle  he  was  subjected  to  se- 
vere fastings,  and  abstinence  from  sleep.  He  fasted,  on  a  time, 
nearly  two  days.  The  spirit  of  his  appetite  rose  in  arms  against 
this  unreasonable  treatment.  But  still  the  itnvard  guide  gave  no 
signal  of  permission.     What  could  John  do?  He  could  hold  out  no 

*  There  is  a  case  of  a  female  in  delirium  uttering  words  of  Greek  and  Latin. 
But  it  is  ascertained  that,  when  a  child,  she  liad  been  familiar  with  such  expres- 
sions and  words. 


Appendix  I.  9 

longer.  He  flew  to  the  larder.  He  found  none  of  his  usual  viands. 
But  as  the  evil  one  would  have  it,  there  presented  itself  to  his  view 
^'  a  fine  roast  of  beef. ''^  Here  commenced  a  fierce  combat  between 
the  "  Jewish  spirits  ivithin  Am"  and  the  other  spirit.  The  one 
charged  him  not  to  touch  the  beef,  the  other  to  eat  the  beef.  John, 
refrain,  was  the  war  cry  on  the  one  side  :  exercise  your  grinders, 
good  John,  was  the  cry  on  the  other.  At  length  the  appetite  pre- 
vailed :  and  John  did  lay  to.  But  dearly  did  he  pay  for  thus  wan- 
tonly "denying  his  Lord  and  Master.^^  (p.  29.)  He  had  a  terrible 
fit  of  the  "  trembling^^  of  that  age.  And  the  stern  chastising  spirit 
turned  the  fine  roast  beef  in  him  into  a  smart  cathartic  ! !  pp.  19, 
29,  of  his  book  "  The  foot  out  of  the  snare.^^  Lond.  edit,  of  1656, 
See  it  in  vol.  No.  927,  quarto  Miscellanies  in  the  Phil.  Library. 


EVD  OF  THE  NOTES'. 


APPENDIX  ir. 


COi\TAlM.\G  A  BRIEF  REVIEW  OF  THE  MOST  DISTINGUISHED    QUAKER 
WRITERS  AND  PREACHERS. 


Ca])ut  feiTeum,  nates  plumheae,  crumen?E  que  aiireae." 

£u)optaii  College  Proverb. 


1.  George  Fox,  skku.  His  character  is  delineated  in  vol.  ii. 
Though  illiterate  he  dictated  much.  His  Journal,  written  by  Ell- 
wood,  was  published  in  the  year  1694:  his  epistles  four  years  after: 
his  doctrinal  pieces,  one  hundred  and  fifty  in  number,  were  pub- 
lished in  1706.  All  except  his  Journal  have  sunk  to  their  proper 
place,  oblivion.  He  wrote  books  which  Friends  of  the  present  day 
would  not  believe  though  they  were' told,  such  as  "Saul's  Errand 
to  Damascus,"  "News  coming  up  out  of  the  North,"  ancient  editions . 
His  wife  Margaret  Fell  Fox,  was  an  eminent  speaker  in  the  society. 
There  is  a  copious  memoir  of  her  extant. 

2.  William  Penn,  their  most  voluminous  writer  and  gigantic  de- 
fender His  tracts  were  collected  and  published  in  1727,  in  two 
vols,  folio,  of  about  80()  pp.  each.  Enough  has  been  said  of  him 
already.  His  "-No  cross  no  crown,"  is  a  decent  moral  thing;  and 
has  been  justly  the  most  popular  of  his  works.  I  have  already  no- 
ticed the  singular  circumstance,  that  this  volume  was  written  in 
the  Tower  while  lying  under  a  legal  charge  of  blasphemy.  They 
who  will  read  his  "  Sandy  foundation  shaken.-^  will  be  able  to  judge 
of  the  relevancy  of  the  charge.  His  life  has  been  written  by  Clark- 
son  :  it  is  a  dull  and  heartless  piece,  yet  it  is  the  best  life  we  have 
of  this  great  man. 

3.  Robert  Barclay  gave  the  Quakers  the  standard  books,  the 
Apolitgy,  their  confessions  of  faith,  their  catechism.  The  charac- 
ter of  the  first  has  been  detailed  in  Part  I.  The  latter,  expressed 
simply  in  the  language  of  the  Bible  after  the  form  of  those  of  the 
KtMnonstrants,  show  what  mischievous  tenets  may  be  advanced  by 
mi-applications  of  divine  truths.  Satan,  we  know,  brandished  texts 
against  our  Lord  :  but  he  was  not  right  because  he  uttered  texts 
of  the  sacred  volume.  His  v.-orks  were  published  in  a  folio  volume, 
in  Loudon,  ia  1692:  and  afterwards  in  3  vols,  octavo,  ia  1718,  un- 


Appendix  II.  11 

der  this  modest  title  :  "  Truth  triumphant,  thro''  the  spiritual  tvar- 
fare  and  christian  labours  and  writings  of  that  able  and  faithful  ser- 
vant B.  Barclay.''^  It  was  an  act  of  kindness  to  tell  us  by  this 
title,  for  we  had  not  otherwise  known  it,  like  the  awkward  pain- 
ter who  painted  his  bear  so  wide  of  the  mark,  and  kindly  added  in 
letters  below,  ^^  this  is  the  bear.^^  Barclay  was  unquestionably  a 
great  man  ;  and  it  is  not  our  interest  to  diminish  from  his  talents 
and  real  acquisitions.  I  hold  him  up  in  all  his  superiority  as  the 
great  Quaker  champion:  and  in  doing  so,  I  only  raise  higher  the 
fame  of  that  honest  John  Brown  of  Wamphry,  whose  rough  and 
unseemly  broad  axe,  Quakers,  and  that  uninformed  writer  in  Brew- 
ster's Encyclop.  (article  Barclay,)  love  to  traduce.  I  appeal  to  the 
towns  and  cities,  and  country  parishes  of  Scotland,  where  the  two 
heroes  entered  the  fierce  combat,  and  fought.  I  appeal  to  exist- 
ing facts.  Brown,  and  some  few  more  of  us,  drove  him  out  of  Scot- 
land. 

A  short  account  of  R.  Barclay  was  published  in  Philadelphia,  in 
1805.  Coming  from  head  quarters  it  is  a  little  too  partial,  and  our 
John  Brown  is  treated  somewhat  uncivilly  ;  but  that  we  can  let 
pass.  It  comes,  I  say,  from  head  quarters.  It  is  a  memoir  really  of 
great  merit;  it  sets  the  character  of  that  am'iable  and  distinguished 
man  in  a  very  fair  light.  No  man  who  knew  the  firivate  character 
of  Barclay  would  permit  a  whisper  against  it.  Laird  Thomas,  and 
even  John  Brown,  never  would  permit  a  surmise  against  his  pri- 
vate character  and  morals.  Tiieir  philippics  were  poured  forth 
against  "the  monstrous  system''''  only. 

4.  Isaac  Pennington  was  a  gentleman  of  "  fine  estate ;"  of  art 
amiable  mind,  and  polished  manners.  He  was  nearly  related  to 
the  Penn  family.  His  works  were  published  in  two  vols,  quarto, 
under  this  lugubrious  title  :  ''the  works  of  the  long  mournful  and 
sore  distressed  Isaac  Pennington."  The  second  edition,  London, 
in  1761,  (No.  166  quarto,  Pliil.  Library,)  in  all  containing  1393 
quarto  pp.  There  are  copies  also  of  tht-m  in  folio,  and  in  octavo. 
He  has  few  controversial  pieces  :  and  those  few  are  conducted  with 
moderation  and  charity.  His  talent  does  not  lie  in  argument.  He 
is  plain,  simple,  shallow,  and  often  descends  to  puerilities.  He  is 
verbose,  and  attacks  us  with  that  unmerciful  length  of  sentences 
which  causes  a  retreat  sooner  than  any  argument  advanced.  His 
works  are  in  greater  request,  or  at  least,  I  think  they  are  more  read 
than  the  folios  of  Penn,  by  the  society.     In  his  doctrines,  with  the 


12  Appendix  IL 

exceptions  of  diverse  sentences,  which  squint  towards  orthodoxy, 
he  is  completely  at  one  with  Penn.  On  the  Trinity  he  is  a  Uni- 
tarian, vol.  i.  p.  264.  On  justification  he  is  a  deep  mystic,  vol.  i.  p. 
607.  On  the  scriptures  his  theory  is  deistical.  See  his  tract  "  Some 
things  relating  to  religion." 

5.  Edward  Burroughs  was  an  immediate  convert  of  Fox.  In 
his  manner  of  preaching  and  writing  he  was  violent,  sometimes  fu- 
rious and  indecent.  His  attack  on  good  John  Bunyan  is  a  speci- 
men of  his  unjustifiable  virulence  and  falsehood.  See  p.  136  of  his 
works.  He  professed  to  write  by  immediate  inspirations,  and  he 
sent  them  forth  with  "  blood  and  thunder."  "  The  word  of  tiie  Lord 
came  unto  me  saying,"  is  a  sample  in  his  terrible  book  with  a  ter- 
rible name,  luV/e/icc/. — "A  trumpet  of  the  Lord,  or  fearful  voices 
of  terrible  thunders,  dictated  and  written  by  a  son  of  thunder." 
His  works  were  collected  and  published  in  A.  D.  1672,  in  folio,  896 
pp.  It  does  contain  a  marvellous  display  of  mysticism,  and  badin- 
age, and  solemnity,  and  curses,  and  prophecy  !  [See  No.  251,  Phil. 
Library,  folio.]  Those  modest  Friends  who  set  forth  his  v.orks 
give  us  this  character  of  him.  " /n  E.  Burroughs  the  fulness  of 
grace  and  virtue  divelt.^^     He  died  in  A.  D.  1663. 

6.  G.  Whitehead.  He  was  one  of  their  most  popular  preachers 
and  boldest  champions.  He  possessed  a  vigorous  mind,  but  he  was 
extremely  illiterate.  As  a  polemic  he  was  stubborn  and  disinger.'i- 
ous.  He  was  resolute  to  throw  down  the  gauntlet,  and  no  less  so 
to  take  it  up.  Determined  to  have  the  victory,  he  often  lost  sight 
of  the  great  aim  of  every  true  polemic,  and  stooped  to  trick,  and 
craft,  and  misrepresentation.  See  his  narrative  of  his  dispute  with 
Scandret:  and  this  author's  epistle  to  the  readei-  prefixed  to  his 
'^Antidote  against  Quakerism.''^  He  is  a  bulky  writer.  But  I  do 
not  find  that  his  works  have  been  collected.  His  "  Divinity  of 
Chrisl,^^  is  perhaps  the  best  known.  In  this  book  on  our  Lord's 
"Divinity,''^  he  puts  forth  his  virulence  against  his  divinity,  and 
personality,  and  atonement.     See  pp.  62,  63,  &c. 

7.  "  The  doctrinal  ivorks  of  the  Quakers.'''  London,  folio.  No.  250. 
Phil.  Library.  This  is  a  heavy  mass  compiled  from  their  writers 
and  speakers.  It  presents  tlie  Quaker  system  under  the _^rs/  and 
second  periods.  The  Unitarian  tenets  are  merged  in  its  mysticism, 
and  3'et  it  is  purged  of  some  of  the  most  nauseating  compositions  of 
the  first  period.  *'  Sanies  errand  to  Damascus^''  is  left  out  of  Fox's 
share  of  the  volume,  as  Leslie  actually  foretold  that  it  would  be.  This 


Apjiendix  II.  i$ 

volume  is,  peradventure,  the  most  unmerciful  volume  that  ever  was 
hurled  from  the  leaden  throne  of  dulness.  I  can  speak  feelingly 
on  this  matter.     Its  soporific  influence  is  absolutely  irresistible  1 

8.  Francis  Howgill  was  one  of  the  writers  of  the  first  period,  and 
one  of  those  worthies  who  travelled  from  "  sheple  houac  to  steeply 
house'^  to  interrupt,  on  the  spot,  the  propagation  of  priestly  error, 
and  external  worship.  He  copied  closely  after  Fox.  His  works 
were  reprinted  in  a  folio  of  740  pp.  in  1 6rG,  under  this  title,  "  Daivn- 
ings  of  the  gospel  day.''''  He  has  throughout,  with  his  compatriots, 
that  loose,  rambling,  heartless  way,  into  which  men  naturally  sink 
who  pour  forth  in  extemporaneous  declamations  infinitely  more  than 
they  ever  thought  upon  or  digested.  The  piece  which  chiefly,  for 
a  while,  attracted  the  public  notice,  was  his  able  discussion  on 
"  Tithes^  It  was  admired  as  a  learned  thing  from  a  Quaker.  But, 
unfortunately,  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  Leslie,  who  proved  it  to  be 
a  plagiarism  from  Selden.  Being  of  the  first  period,  he  is  more  of 
a  mystic  than  a  Unitarian.  As  a  proof,  this  fanatic  actually  ad- 
vocates the  "  unity  and  equality  of  the  human  soul  ivilh  GodP^  See 
p.  232  of  his  works. 

9.  Thomas  EUwood  was  an  industrious  and  on  the  whole  a  pretty 
respectable  writer.  He  wrote  Fox's  Journal ;  Sacred  History,  &c. 
His  style  is  affected,  and  quaint,  and  turgid.  His  character  of  Fox 
is  a  specimen.  See  Mosh.  vol.  v.  chap.  4.  cent.  17.  sect.  2,  part  ii. 
and  in  Fox's  Jour.  vol.  i.  p.  79.  But  the  most  striking  thing  about 
it,  is  that  eternal  verbiage  and  length  of  periods  that  exhaust  our 
patience,  and  lacerate  the  nerves.  And  as  if  this  had  not  been 
enough,  he  has  persecuted  the  world  with  his  own  life,  in  an  octavo 
vol.  of  505  pp.  About  sixty  pages  of  which  detail  his  conversion 
to  the  Friends'  doctrines,  and  his  refusing  filial  reverence  in  un- 
covering his  head  before  his  father  :  his  "  whirrets  on  the  ear:"  his 
resolution  in  still  covering  his  head:  his  again  coming  before  his  fa- 
ther with  "  At;f  mountier  cap^^  on,  when  his  hats  had  been  taken  from 
him:  his  successful  elopement:  the  pursuit  of  him  by  his  aged  father: 
his  reception  with  the  Friends.  Then  through  63  octavo  pages  he 
details  his  adventures,  befitting  such  a  runaway,  in  Bridewell  and 
Newgate:  his  sufferings  and  tliose  of  his  conipanions  ;  the  severest 
of  which  was  that  of  one  of  them  put  under  the  strappado  for  "  cob- 
bling shoes  on  the  Sabbath  day.''''  See  his  life  passim.  And  farther 
particulars  of  this  unnatural  son  toward  his  father  in  Bugg.  Pict.  of 
Quak.  p.  240. 


44)  Appendix  II. 

10.  Wyeth.  He  had  been  a  labouring  man,  but  his  talents  were 
respectable  for  one  in  his  humble  station.  He  hatl  a  facilifj  of  ex- 
pressing himself  in  a  plain  way.  He  wrote  ^^  angtcis  JfageUahis,  or 
a  switch  for  the  Snake^^  (of  Leslie.)  He  was  not  a  David  to  en- 
counter this  Goliah.  He  and  Whitehead  (and  it  is  marvellous,)  were 
reduced  to  silence  by  Leslie.  See  the  conference  between  the 
Vind.  of  the  bishop  of  Litchfield,  and  the  author  of  the  second  let- 
ter to  the  bishop  (who  apologized  for  their  silence.)  The  society, 
however,  took  ample  vengeance  by  a  gratuitous  distribution  of  ten 
thousand  copies  of  Wyeth,  and  a  declaration  in  their  meetings  "  that 
the  Snake  teas  fully  answered.''^  The  good  natured  people  believed 
it  on  this  statement.  For  as  Leslie  was  not  in  the  Index  none  of 
their  members  were  permitted  to  judge  for  themselves.  Because 
the  young,  or  even  senior  Friends,  are  not  permitted  to  read  or  ex- 
amine our  books  for  themselves.     If  they  are,  let  us  see  the  fact. 

11.  Samuel  Fisher  was  a  priest  of  the  church  of  England,  and 
had,  of  course,  received  a  liberal  education.  He  yielded  to  his 
scruples  respecting  infant  baptism;  resigned  his  living  worth  /:200 
sterl.  per  annnum,  and  united  himself  to  the  Baptist  church.  But 
he  had  yielded  also  to  the  imposing  dreams  of  mysticism,  hence 
the  necessary  ettects  of  the  declamations  of  the  early  Friends  over 
his  mind.  William  Penn  tells  us  that  he  had  often  been  "  refreshed 
by  his  tracts;  and  that  he  admired  his  self-denial  and  humility." 
If  this  eminent  man  had  not  told  us  this,  we  never  could  have  dis- 
covered his  claims  to  these  virtues.  That  he  was  a  man  of  humi- 
lity it  may  be,  but  it  is  certain  that  he  claimed  for  his  sect  the  ex- 
clusive honours  of  being  the  only  children  of  wisdom,  the  only 
people  of  ivhom  wisdom  is  justified  as  of  her  children.  See  his  "  Lux 
Christi,^^  sect.  -2.  Phil.  ^it.  of  A.  D.  1744.*  And  in  writing  this 
**  Ltix  Chrisii,^^  it  was  enough  for  him  that  he  had  pleased  God,  &c. 
sect.  35.  That  he  was  an  humble  and  self-denied  man  may  be. 
But  in  his  "  Rusticus  ad  Academicos,"'  which  he  wrote  against  Dr. 
Owen,  in  the  defence  of  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  "  Quaking,''^ 
he  tells  the  doctor  that  he  "  was  a  blind  guide  and  a  brute  beast,  for 
speaking  against  it.^^  See  exercit.  2.  p.  18. 

Besides  these  works,  which  contain  a  rambling  defence  of  mys- 
tic tenets,  of  which  Dr.  Owen  and  Mr.  Baxter  took  no  notice,  he 
wrote  Episcopus  aposcopos  against  bishop  Gaudcn,  which  is  equally 
full  of  those  rustic  indecencies,  which  his  disappointed  and  irrita- 

♦  lu  the  Athen.  tib.  I'hil.  vol.  16,  Pampli.  No.  10. 


Jlppendlx  II.  15 

ted  mind  poured  out,  instead  of  logical  arguments.  His  "  Lux 
ChristV^  is  the  best  known.  An  edition  was  published  bj  Mr. 
James  in  Philadelphia,  in  A.  D.  ir87.  It  is  in  tolerable  modern 
Latin  :  but  it  is  blustering  and  incoherent.  He  collects  some  select 
texts  on  light,  and  applies  them  all  to  the  inward  light.  Sect.  2,  3, 
4,  5.  He  makes  their  inward  Christ,  and  the  image  of  Christ,  and 
the  Christ  in  glory,  all  one,  and  all  the  three  are  the  law.  "  Legis, 
i.  e.  lucis  Dei  in  conscientia  "  Sect.  8,  9,  10,  16,  26.  He  wrote 
by  immediate  revelation.  Sect.  32.  He  closes  by  a  terrible  anathema 
against  those  who  shall  disbelieve  him.    Sect.  ^5. 

12.  Ilubberthorn.  He  wrote  some  fugitive  pieces.  His  TnUh'^s 
Defence  is  the  best  known.  He  was  a  bold  and  persevering  man. 
In  his  mode  of  conducting  and  closing  a  dispute,  we  see  in  him 
the  coufi-de-muin  of  the  Friends  in  primitive  tinies.  They  offered 
no  miracles  to  support  their  spiritual  pretensions.  But  they  gave 
forth  many  words,  and  closed  with,  "you  are  now  answered  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Lord."  See  his  works,  p.  89,  and  Bugg's  Pict.  p. 
129. 

13.  Edicard  Billing,  a  man  of  warm  and  enthusiastic  feelings, 
and  much  given  to  rant.  He  wrote  "  reproof  to  his  fellow-sol- 
diers." His  sentiments  exhibit  the  orthodoxy  of  the  first  jjeriod. 
"Their  (the  Quaker.^')  suficrings  and  wounds,  were  the  wounds 
which  the  Lord  of  life  received."  See  his  book  published  in  A.  D. 
1659,  also  Bugg.  p.  361. 

14.  /?.  Farmoorth  had  been  a  domestic  in  the  family  of  Mr. 
Lord.  He  possessed  some  energy,  but  was  illiterate.  He  was  first 
seduced  by  the  writings  of  Saltmarsh,  and  imbibed  the  tenets  of 
familism.  He  entertained  a  great  contempt  for  all  external  insti- 
tutions and  worship.  He  commenced  his  career  of  preaching  over 
the  kingdom  about  the  time  of  Fox's  first  appearing.  They  met 
and  coalesced.  He  wrote  several  books.  "  They  are,"  says  a  co- 
temporary,  •  "  much  admired  by  the  Quakers."  And  it  requires 
but  a  momentary  glance  at  them  to  sec  the  truth  of  Stalham's 
other  remark,  "that  they  exhibit  malice  more  than  human  against 
Christ's  institutions  and  ambassadors."  See  his  book  against  Stal- 
ham,  and  Stalham's  "  Reviler  Rebuked." 

15.  Dennis  Hollister.  He  wrote  "  The  skirts  of  the  whore  discov-- 
ered."    He  was  a  plain,  blundering  man,  who  hastened  to  teach 
others  before  he  had  himself  been  illumined. 

*  StaUiam. 


16  Ajdijendix  II. 

16.  TTiomas  Lawson.  He  was  a  man  of  education  and  had  be6rt 
in  holy  orders.  He  had  been  a  priest  of  the  church  of  England. 
But  had  studied  the  Behmens  and  the  Averas,  and  the  Cressys, 
more  than  the  homilies  and  canons  of  his  church.  He  became  a 
convert  under  Fox.  He  was  a  voluminous  writer  in  the  first  pe- 
riod. He  wrote  "The  untaught  teacher;"  "The  lip  of  wisdom 
opened;"  "On  the  seven  liberal  arts."  His  manner  is  quaint  and 
tedious,  and  verbose.  Like  the  rest  of  the  writers  of  the  first  pe- 
riod, he  never  masters  his  subject;  never  lays  it  down  in  well  se- 
lected terms  ;  but  in  the  indecisive  and  rambling  manner  of  a  youth  - 
ful  composer,  he  seems  to  make  his  ideas  follow  his  words,  or  adapt 
themselves  to  them.     His  works  are  now  little  known. 

17.  James  Ndylor.  He  had  been  a  captain  in  the  army  :"but  in  his 
conversion  became  a  zealous  preacher.  His  best  known  piece  is 
'■^  Love  to  the  lost.^^  We  have  said  enough  of  this  unhappy  man  al- 
ready, (see  part  i.  sect.  17.)  Neal  states  that  he  was  supposed  to 
have  the  features  usually  given  by  painters  to  Jesus  Christ.  And 
this,  it  is  probable,  helped  on  the  work  of  depravity  in  this  fanatic's 
accepting  divine  homage,  and  in  the  deluded  females  of  Bristol 
offering  it  to  him.  I  have  seen  an  engraving  of  him,  executed  in 
England,  about  the  time  of  his  crime  and  his  cruel  punishment. 
He  certainly  had  nothing  of  a  Jew's  feature,  if  that  likeness  be 
correct.  His  face  was  long  and  withered  ;  his  chin  of  unusual 
length  ;  his  eyes  small  and  hollow,  and  his  head  covered  with  a 
beaver,  having  a  brim  of  unusual  breadth. 

18.  John  Toldervy.  This  singular  fanatic  has  been  noticed  al- 
ready, (part  i.  sect.  17,  &c.)  He  lived  and  died  in  the  society.  It 
is  probable  that  he  atoned  for  his  extravagance,  though  it  does  not 
appear  that  the  society  had  been  very  severe  on  him.  All,  however, 
admitted  that  he  " /j«rf  run  out  from  the  seed  in  him  ;^^  but  still,  he 
had  "  the  seed  in  him.''''  He  wrote  "  The  foot  out  of  the  snare." 
See  this  singular  piece  in  Phil.  Libr.  vol.  of  Miscel.  No.  927,  quarto. 
James  Naylor  wrote,  and  none  more  fit  than  he  to  write,  "  Foot 
still  in  the  snare."  John  replied,  made  confessions,  and  some 
acknowledgments:  he  neverdenied  any  of  the  factsstated  in  hisbook. 
And  so  John  Vias  never  cast  out,  he  was  not  even  suspended,  so  far 
as  I  can  discover,  until  he  gave  proofs  of  penitence. 

19.  T.  Gilpin  of  Kendal.  When  converted  to  the  society  he  had, 
it  seems,  his  full  share,  and  he  thought,  rather  more  than  his  share, 
of  the  tremblings  of  body  so  common  in  that  day.     His  quiverings. 


Appendix  II.  17 

and  shudderings,  and  tremblings,  and  convulsions,  issuing  in  deep 
and  oppressive  groans,  attracted  the  public  attention  in  no  common 
degree.  They  made  a  bruit  over  the  kingdom.  He  wrote  "•  77te 
Quakers  Shaken.^'  A  second  edition  appeared  in  A.  D.  1655,  giv- 
ing a  minute  account  of  his  bodily  dealings;  and  of  the  possession 
and  actings  of  I.  Milner.  The  book  was  attested  by  the  mayor  of 
the  city  of  Kendal.  I  have  not  been  able  to  procure  a  copy  of  this 
book.  I  have  seen  only  a  brief  analysis  of  it  by  a  writer  of  I6r8. 
It  exliibits  a  modern  case  of  demoniacal  possession. 

20.  George  Fox,  Junior.  He  was  not  a  relative  of  the  founder. 
In  his  sentiments  and  style  he  was  his  correct  imitator.  He  was  a 
thorough  mystic.  He  was  taken  away  at  an  early  stage  of  the  first 
period.  His  works  were  re-printed  in  1665.  Hi^  "  Words  of  the 
eternal  and  true  light^^  is  the  most  remarkable  collection.  He  be- 
stows every  attribute  of  the  divine  nature  on  "  The  light  within.''^ 
See  also  Bugg's  Pict.  p.  58,  Part  I. 

21.  Josiah  Coal.  He  was  a  man  of  keen  sensibility  and  ungo- 
vernable passions.  In  his  preaching  and  writings  he  gave  full  sway 
to  them,  and  mistook  the  ebullitions  of  passion  for  divine  inspira- 
tions. His  besetting  sin  was  his  propensity  to  ban.  Withoutstop- 
ping  to  reason  the  point  he  would  send  his  antagonist  to  Tartarus. 
His  works  form  a  pretty  large  volume.  The  most  noted  seems  to 
be  "The  whore  unveiled."  An  antagonist  of  G.  Fox  had  treated 
his  revelations  rather  cavalierly.  The  following  is  a  specimen  of 
Josiah's  ban.  "  In  the  name  of  that  God  that  spans  the  heavens, 
I  bind  thee  on  earth;  and  thou  art  bound  in  heaven  :  and  in  chains 
under  darkness  to  the  judgment  of  the  great  day  thou  shalt  be  re- 
served." See  his  works  p.  243,-244.  See  also  Bugg's  Pict.  p.  65. 
He  had  entered  the  arena  with  the  notorious  Muggleton.  [This  sin- 
gular man  erred  witii  the  seceding  Quakers,  simply  in  carrying  out 
into  their  utmost  stretch  the  leaditig  tenet  of  the  sect,  in  a  manner 
perfectly  natural.]  Muggleton  having  like  Josiah,  lost  his  temper, 
resorted  to  the  club  logic  of  banning.  He  thundered  forth  liis  bull, 
and  sent  him  to  Tartarus.  And  as  a  proof  that  his  sentence  would 
bind  him,  he  assured  him  that  he  would  always  be  in  "  A  terror  of 
damnation.'''*  Like  Pope  against  Pope,  Josiah  sent  forth  his  fulmi- 
nation,  in  the  words  above.  On  !iis  death  bed  Josiah,  for  some  mo- 
tive or  other,  probably  from  no  higher  motive  than  that  which 
prompts  the  school  boy,  in  the  hour  of  darkness,  and  in  the  solitary 
way,  "  to  whistle  aloud,  to  bear  his  courage  up  ;"  having  called  to 

3 


18  AppendLv  11. 

mind  Muggleton  and  his  ban,  raised  himself  up,  and  thus  spoke 
with  his  remaining  strength  :  "  Thou,  Muggleton,  art  a  son  of  dark- 
ness ;  a  co-worker  with  the  prince  of  the  bottomless  pit,  in  which 
shall  be  thy  inheritance  forever."  And  then  closed  with  binding 
on  him  a5;ain  the  chains  of  darkness  !  See  Tompkin's  ''  Piety  pro- 
moted,-^ p.  44. 

22.  Stephen  Crisp  was  an  able  and  fluent  speaker  in  the  society. 
His  volume  of  sermons,  to  each  of  which  is  attached  the  praver 
which  he  made  at  the  close  of  each,  do  really  great  credit  to  his 
head,  and  to  his  heart.  Mixed,  it  is  true,  with  much  alloy,  there 
is  much  precious  metal.  He  had  a  wild  native  eloquence  which 
must  have  had  great  eifect.  Honest  Siephen,  it  is  said,  did  not 
stand  very  high  in  the  good  opinion  of  the  society.  It  was  whis- 
pered that  his  failings  leaned  toward  the  fair  sisters.  But  it  is  cer- 
tain that  nothing  was  esiablished  against  him.  And  his  enemies 
did  not  want  the  inclination  to  go  all  lengths.  He  ought  to  be, 
therefore,  deemed  an  innocent  man.  See  Bugg's  Pict.  p.  115.  His 
sermons  were  re-printed  in  a  neat  octavo  of  386  pp.  by  Mr.  James 
of  Phil.  A.  D.  1787. 

23.  fV.  Smith  wrote  the  "Quakers'  primer  and  catechism."  In 
this  he  brought  forth  the  mystic  doctrines  with  great  virulence: 
and  he  shows  an  almost  superhuman  malice  against  the  doctrines, 
and  institutions,  and  servants  of  Jesus  Christ. 

24.  fV.  Simpson  stood  in  the  front  lines  of  their  champions. 
"The  relation  of  his  life  and  death"  is  what  remains  of  him.  It 
was  revived  by  the  society,  and  recommended  in  their  catalogue 
of  17('8.  In  p.  10,  they  have  thus  embalmed  his  memory.  "  God 
has  sent  his  servants  endued  with  a  divine  spirit  and  power  ;  whose 
integrity  and  innocency,  have  appeared  in  the  likeness  and  image 
of  Almighty  God."  See  also  Bugg.  p.  154.  He  whom  they  thus 
have  canonized,  was  the  man  who  acted  the  Lupercus,  and  con- 
tinued, during  three  years,  to  make  his  naked  processions  through 
the  streets.  [See  part  i.  sect.  21.] 

25.  IV.  Erlmry  wrote  "  A  call  to  the  churches."  His  style  is 
plain  :  his  whole  manner  artless  and  illiterate.  He  thinks  he  was 
a  forerunner  to  the  Friends,  as  John  was  to  Christ.  See  his  book, 
and  also  his  Reviewer,  Stalham,  Epist.  to  the  reader.  Moreover, 
he  thinks,  that  Christ  taught  only  that  small  part  of  the  gospel 
which  was  peculiar  to  the  Jews:  that  the  gospel  which  the  apos- 
tles preached,  was  not  that  which  they  wrote.     Then  he  proses 


»dil)pendix  II.  19 

about  the  light  within:  that  God  dwells  as  much  in  them,  and  in 
the  same  manner  as  in  Christ:  that  in  regard  to  the  dnine  urdi- 
nances  we  have  not  so  much  as  scripture  for  any  of  theiu  :  that  the 
coming  of  Christ  mentioned  by  the  angels,  at  Christ's  ascension, 
(Acts  ii.  11.)  is  his  coming  in  the  spirit  and  power  in  the  sainis  in 
their  flesh,  when  confused  and  dark.  See  his  Call,  pp.  4,  6.  Pj 
19,  37,  &c.  and  Stalham,  ut  supra.  He  was,  therefore,  a  thorough, 
mystic  of  the  first  period. 

26  John  Audlund  was  a  speaker  of  some  boldness.  His  mind 
was  rustic  and  illiterate  to  a  shocking  degree.  His  letter  to  Fox 
made  a  great  noise  in  the  world.  In  this  letter,  he  permitted  his 
filial  admiration  to  run  out  into  the  impassioned  language  of  prayer 
and  adoration.  (See  part  i.  sect.  8.)  This  letter  was  procured  and 
published  by  Leslie,  in  the  mode  in  which  it  was  spelled.  Its  au- 
thenticity was  established  by  his  friends  in  the  town  where  he  lived 
and  died.  And  it  deserves  notice,  that  it  is  published  in  the  se- 
cond edition  of  "  1  he  Snake,"  sect.  8,  which  was  reviewed  by  G. 
Whitehead,  and  he  has  not  produced  a  single  false  quotation.  See 
his  answer  to  the  Snake  given  forth  about  A.  D.  1697. 

27.  Nicholas  Lucas.  His  furious  zeal  for  the  •'  light"  has  carried 
him  into  deism. 

28.  Nicholas  Lilburn.  He  writes  on  the  "Resurrection  ;"  which, 
on  inspection,  turns  out  to  be  on  his  own  conversion.  This  is  a  fair 
specimen.  "  Happening  to  meet  some  of  the  precious  people  call- 
ed Quakers,  and  getting  into  my  hands  two  of  their  volumes  of  about 
17011  pp.  I  have — been  knocked  down  off.,  or  from  my  former  legs, 
or  standing — and  sent  to  the  true  teacher,  the  light  within.  A 
thing  not  to  be  deemed  over  marvellous  ;  or  by  any  means  incredi- 
ble. Fur  if  the  reviewing;  of  a  siii";le  government  fast  dav  sermon 
produced  such  a  deep  sleep  over  the  intellectual  powers,  and  the 
natural  senses  of  even  an  Edinburgh  Reviewer,  is  it  a  matter  of 
surprise,  that  1700  folio  pages  should  '^  knock  doivn  any  man  off,  or 

from  his  legs,  or  standing  J^^ 

Hoc  nee  caput  feireum,  nee  nates  plumbese  ferre  possint ! 

29.  Patrick  Livingston  wrote  "Downright  dealing,"  a  remark- 
able production,  in  which  he  puts  forth  all  his  strength  in  defence 
of  the  "  Trembling  and  quaking"  of  the  first  and  second  periods. 
See  a  specimen  in  p.  10,  and  in  "  Snake,  &,c."  sect.  21. 

30.  James  Parnel,  though  a  youth,  was  "  a  poiverful  minister  of 


20  Appendix  11. 

the  gospeU^  Sewel,  vol.  i.  p.  150.  He  possessed  some  talents  and 
was  not  without  some  literature,  though  his  works  do  not  show  it. 
He  v/iote  "  The  trumpet  of  the  Lord  soiinded,  or  a  blast  against 
pride.'^  Considering  the  audiences  he  addressed,  and  those  to  whom 
he  wrote,  this  would  seem  to  be  as  ill-timed  as  the  sermon  of  the 
clergyman  in  Gallowav  (Scotland.)  which  was  a  philippic  against 
the  pride  and  luxury  of  the  age,  delivered  to  a  rustic  audience,  of 
whom  the  greater  half  had  neither  shoes  nor  stockings  I  But  this 
reforming  Quaker  carried  matters  too  far.  We  allow  them  to  de- 
claim, until  they  are  as  hoarse  as  a  Roman  crier  :  but  they  should 
not  send  us  to  the  pit  for  our  coats,  and  buttons,  and  speech.  "  Wo 
to  you  that  are  called  vSir,  Mr.  and  Madam,  and  Mistress.  To  hell 
you  must  go,  and  lie  there  for  ever  and  ever:  given  forth  by  the 
spirit  of  the  Lord  through  his  servant  James  Parnel."  p.  28,  and 
Bugg.  p.  61.  Judge  Hill  committed  this  young  man  to  prison  un- 
der a  charge  of  blasphemy.  He  gravely  observed  to  the  judge, 
''thou  hast  persecuted  Christ,  and  hast  set  at  liberty  Barabbas.'^  Bugg. 
p.  115.  The  persecution  and  cruelty  sustained  by  this  youth,  have 
left  a  stamp  of  infamy  on  the  priesthood  and  magistracy  of  that  age, 
that  excite  our  deepest  abhorrence  and  detestation  !  If  a  man  is 
deemed  erroneous,  outreason  him  ;  if  he  be  extravagant  in  his  sal- 
lies, apply  the  caustic  of  satire.  But  to  persecute,  and  harass, 
and  murder  by  imprisonment  in  such  a  dungeon  as  that  in  which 
poor  young  Parnel  languished  out  his  life.  Oh  !  it  was  most  un- 
christian— and  m.ost  inhuman  I 

31.  Charles  Atkinson  wrote  "The  sword  of  the  Lord  drawn." 
The  design  was  to  cut  down  the  ministry,  the  churches,  and  the 
nations.  He  was  an  empty  headed  and  conceited  man.  He  was 
justly  expelled  from  the  society  for  immorality.  See  "Snake,"  &c, 
sect.  6. 

33.  W.  Shawcn  was  an  eminent  preacher  of  the  second  period. 
He  wrote  '•  A  treatise  on  thoughts  and  imaginations."  This  is  a 
specimen  :  he  is  drawing  the  character  of  the  Friends  :  "  they  are 
meeker  than  Moses  ;  stronger  than  Sampson  ;  wiser  than  Solomon  ; 
more  patient  than  Job,  &c."  p.  25.  edit,  of  A.  D.  1685. 

S3.  "  Some  principles  of  the  Quakers,^'  A.  D.  1693.  This  volume 
reminds  me  of  the  famous  Monday,  after  the  sacrament  sermons 
in  Scotland,  the  professed  object  of  which  is  to  ''redd  up  the 
marches.-'  It  is  not  to  edify,  but  to  run  down,  as  fair  game,  every 
sect  on  the  field.     The  polite  author  of  Barclay's  life  (Phil.  edit,  of 


Apiiendix  IL  "^  21 

A.  D.  1805.)  has,  in  p.  121,  given  us  rather  an  unfavourable  speci- 
men of  our  good  old  John  Brown  of  Wamphry.  His  epistle  dedi- 
catory or  prefatory,  as  well  as  the  epistle  ad  calcem,  are,  I  admit, 
somewhat  ferocious.  But  1  am  tempted  to  give,  by  way  of  cour- 
tesy, a  specimen  from  this  volume,  which  is  of  a  later  date  than 
Brown's.  The  Friends  call  their  antagonists  "conjurers," thieves,*' 
"robbers,"  "antichrists,"  "witches,"  "devils,"  "scarlet-coloured 
beasts,"  "  blood-hounds  gaping  like  the  mouth  of  hell,"  "  lizards," 
"  moles,"  "tinkers,"  "green  headed  trumpeters,"  "wheel-barrows," 
"gim-cracks,"  whirlpools,"  "whirligigs,"  "moon  calfs,"^"tatterde- 
malions,""  serpents,"  "vipers,"  "ministers  of  the  devil,"  "bears," 
•'  devils  incarnate."  See  in  "  Snake,"  sect.  17.  And  if  they  touch 
a  hair  of  old  Wamphry's  beard,  they  may  have  more,  even  from 
the  pages  of  William  Penn  himself. 

34.  Henry  Pickworih.  He  had  been  an  eminent  speaker  and  a 
popular  writer.  His  works  were  revived  and  recommended  in 
■\Vhiting-s  catalogue,  p.  132.  edit,  of  A.  D.  1708.  There  is  an  im- 
portant item  in  his  brief  history.  When  Bugg  was  in  the  triumphant 
career  of  Quaker  refutation,  Pickworth  challenged  him  to  a  public 
debate.  He  retired  apparently  overwhelmed  and  confused.  The 
magistrates  and  people,  in  whose  presence  the  debate  was  conduct- 
ed, rose,  en  masse,  and  carrying  to  the  market  place  all  the  Quaker 
books  which  could  be  discovered,  they  consumed  them  as  pesti- 
lential and  heretical.  The  aged  veteran  having  published  a  narra- 
tive of  this,  Pickworth  applied  himself  to  the  refutation.  He  made 
an  extensive  collection  of  Quaker  books,  in  order  that  he  might 
have  every  facility  in  detecting  Bugg's  misquoted  passages.  This 
constrained  him  to  examine  their  books  more  minutely  than 
he  ever  had  done.  His  eyes  were  opened  to  the  nakedness  and 
deformity  of  the  system.  He  was  fully  convinced  of  their  deep 
error  and  heresy  ;  publicly  renounced  them  ;  took  his  stand  by  the 
venerable  Bugg,  and  wrote  a  pathetic  appeal  to  the  parliament  on 
the  erroneous  system  of  Quakerism.  See  his  paper  of  nineteen 
charges  presented  to  Pari.  A.  D.  1714,  also  Bugg,  part  vii.  256. 

35.  Story's  Journal  (No.  Ill,  folio,)  and  his  "Discourses," 

No.  412,  octavo,  Phil.  Library.  They  display  a  plain  and  benevo- 
lent mind  ;  but  a  mind  without  talent,  and  without  the  cultivation 
of  letters.     Tliey  are  dull  and  heartless  productions. 

35.  John  Ferrot  was  one  of  the  leading  seceding  Quakers,  who 
claimed  the  honours  of  being  the  true  church.     He  had  suffered 


22  tAppendix  It. 

imprisonment  in  the  city  of  Rome,  whither  his  zeal  hacT  carried  him, 
and  by  some  means  or  other  escaped,  to  create  trouble  in  the  bm  letj. 
He  wrote  the  history  of  his  sufferings,  under  this  title,  which  shows 
Tis  at  once  the  man  and  the  mind  ;  "The  wren  in  the  burning  bush 
waving  her  wings  of  contraction."  When  he  delivered  epistles  to 
the  males,  he  subscribed  himself  "  John,"  when  to  the  females, 
"your  tender  sister  John."  Yet  sixty-seven  against  sixty-six  in 
the  grand  Quaker  schism,  stood  up  for  this  man.  William  Penn 
thus  gravely  writes  of  him,  "  T/iaf  if  he  had  been  as  faithful  as  his 
•companions,  he  might  have  been  hanged  at  Home  (as  we  are  in- 
formed) to  his  own  comfurt,  the  truth's  honour,  and  the  church^* 
peace.''''  Vol.  ii.  p.  -203. 

37.  /.  Muckalow  was  another  of  the  seceding  Friends.  He  wrote 
*'  The  spirit  of  the  hat.^^  This  book  is  a  severe  one.  It  deiails 
more  of  the  scenes  behind  the  curtain  than  any  other  of  that  persud. 
It  details  "  The  violence  nffered  in  the  assemblies,"  ''The  pulling 
down  and  the  bailings  forth."  "  We  went  to  the  utmost  as  far  as 
our  power  reached."  p.  29,  &c.  Penn  makes  rather  a  silly  defence. 
See  vol.  ii.  p.  193. 

38,  39,40.  John  Field,  B,  Coole,  I.  TfTiiting.  They  wrote  against 
Keith,  but  with  little  effect. 

41.  ■  Tompkins  wrote  "  Piety  promoted,"  a  collection  of  the 
dying  sayings  of  Quakers.  Dubl.  A.  D.  172i.  No.  438,  duod.  Phil. 
Library.  I  was  much  pleased  with  a  perusal  of  tiiis  book.  The 
reader  will  be  sensibly  touched  by  the  affecting  cases  of  pious  youth. 
He  will  also  be  struck  with  this  fact,  that  there  is  not  an  instance 
of  a  leading  member  or  preacher  confessing  a  single  sin,  or  be- 
wailing a  single  delinquency,  or  professing  any  contrition  under 
the  hand  of  a  holy  and  pure  God.  And  he  will  be  more  sensibly 
struck  when  he  discovers  that  it  is  not  an  oversight,  but  a  strict 
acting  up  to  principle.  [See  part  ii.  ch.  ii.  sect.  2.] 

42.  Joseoh  Pike  of  the  city  of  Cork,  Ireland,  was  an  eminent  and 
sensible  Quaker  writer.  His  best  known  piece  is  '•  A  treatise  on 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper."  Loud.  A.  D.  1703.  Like  Ful- 
ler's, it  is  a  distant  echo  of  Barclay  on  those  subjects.  Yet  lie  brings 
forward,  in  a  very  pleasing  style  all  that  they  can  say  against  these 
divine  ordinances.  He  also  makes  a  respectable  attempt  to  reply 
to  the  objections  brought  against  their  theory,  by  Bennet  and  some 
others.  He  is  plain  and  unaffected.  He  has  avoided  that  disgust- 
ing cant,  and  the  style  of  cursing  and  banning  so  characteristic  ot 
the  first  and  second  periods. 


Apppndlw  II.  23 

43.  Hookas  "  Spirit  of  the  martyrs  revived.'*  A.  D.  1719. 

It  details  in  a  piain  siyle,  many  painfui  facts  of  tlie  sufferings  of 
the  Quakers,  and  it  delineates  mucli  of  the  manners  of  that  iron 
age.     See  N(t.  737,  octavo,  Phil.  Libr. 

44.  ChancUer's  "  Apology  for  the  Quakers."  A.  D.  1727.  Of  the 
last  period  in  its  tenets.  A  dull  and  heartless  performance. 

4.5.  BevPti's  "  D.r'fence  of  Robert  Barclay."  Dubl.  A.  D.  1727. 
The  cause  of  Quakerism  must  have  been  triumphant  in  Ireland  in 
that  <lay,  when  such  a  sixpenny  champion  could  hold  up  Barclay's 
wounded  head.  A  Mr.  Bevau  had  his  "  Vindication''^  published  in 
A.  D.  1 800. 

46.  Scmiuel  Fuller  wrote  with  a  spirit  nearly  as  fierce  and  un- 
charitable, as  that  which  stalked  over  the  land  during  the  common- 
wealth, and  the  times  of  Charles  II.  and  James  II.  His  book  is 
called  "  Answerto  twelve  sections  of  abusive  queries."  Dubl.  1728. 
He  has  nothing  new  nor  forcible.  He  is  a  distant  echo  of  Barclay. 
He  puts  forth  but  comparatively  few  of  the  tenets  of  mvsticisni 
and  of  Unitarianism.  He  is  a  thorough  Pelagian  and  Armenian. 
No.  909,  octavo,  Phil.  Libr. 

47.  Setvel  is,  perhaps,  the  best  known  historian  of  Quakerism 
next  to  Penn.  It  is  well  known  that  he  was  not  a  man  of  letters. 
And  he  has  much  of  the  besetting  sin  of  the  Quaker  writers,  in 
point  of  style  and  manner.  His  manner  is  chiefly  after  that  of 
Penn  and  EUwood.  If  we  can  only  bear  with  his  tediousness,  and 
the  partiality  which  each  has  for  his  own;  and  the  quaintness  of 
manner  ;  and  that  vexatious  long  windedness  of  sentence  ;  we  shall 
find  some  amusement,  and  a  considerable  share  of  information.  A 
good  edition  of  his  history  was  published  at  Phil.  A.  D.  1811,  in  2 
vols,  octavo. 

48.  Besse.  "A  collection  of  the  sufferings  of  the  people  called 
Quakers,"  from  A.  D.  I6.i0to  1689,  two  volumes  folio,  pp.  1405. 
See  No.  270,  folio,  Phil.  Library.  These  volumes  contain  some 
valuable  memorials  and  authentic  statements.  They  contain  a  col- 
lection from  those  immense  volumes  belonging  to  the  yearly  meet- 
ing, under  which  their  shelves  groan  ;  and  in  which  are  recorded, 
or  rather  piled  up,  those  papers  which  are  delivered  by  the  monthly 
and  quarterly  meetings  in  Britain  and  Ireland  ;  which  have  been 
in  the  habit  of  making  out  regular  returns  of  the  sufferings  of  the 
Friends  in  their  respective  departments.  But  they  are  jumbled 
together  without  any  proper  selection.    Had  the  trifling  incidents, 


24  -  Appendix  II. 

and  the  minute  details  of  the  most  insipid  stuft'been  rejected,  these 
folios  had  dwindled  down  to  a  tolerable  quarto.  The  chief  thing 
to  recommend  them  is  fine  black  ink,  good  paper  and  print. 

49.  John  Rutty  writes  "The  rise  and  progress  of  the  Quakers  in 
Ireland,-'  a  quarto  vol.  pp.  484.  This  history  details  the  events 
of  the  society  fronj  the  year  1653  to  1751.  The  only  thing  pass- 
able in  the  book  is  the  Introduction.  The  body  of  the  book  forms  a 
bundle  of  dry  anecdotes,  with  not  so  much  a  history,  as  a  fulsome 
encomium  on  each  of  the  Friends  who  planted  and  watered  Quak- 
erism in  Ireland,  as  if  they  could  have  sustained  the  glory  of  being 
set  up  beside  the  prophets  and  apostles!  See  No.  196,  quarto,  Phil. 
Library. 

50.  Gough  wrote  "The  history  of  the  people  called  Quakers, 
&c."  Dubl.  A.  D.  1790,  4  vols,  octavo.  The  author  is  a  plain  and 
amiable  man :  but  without  letters  and  without  taste.  He  has  gleaned 
his  materials  from  Sevvel,  Besse,  and  a  MS.  of  S.  Smith.  In  his 
preface  he  betrays  the  impossibility  of  his  being  impartial.  He 
blames  writers  v.lio  consult  those  who  wrote  on  the  other  side  of 
the  question.  Nothing  will  satisfy  honest  John  Gough,  but  the 
copying  of  their  own  statements,  and  the  giving  of  no  credit  to  any 
but  themselves.  He  can  discover  no  difterence  between  writing  of 
their  society,  and  writing  against  them.  He  very  gravely  tells  us, 
that  he  has  discovered  no  change  in  the  body  of  the  Friends  in 
point  of  sentiment  or  manners,  or  principles  or  mode  of  preaching. 
Vol.  iii.  p.  325.  The  two  points  of  which  he  gives  the  most  lame 
and  defective  account  are  the  Keithian  controversy.  He  does  not 
bring  into  view  the  true  subject  of  the  dispute;  namely,  whether 
Christ  is  really  in  heaven  icithout,  in  glorified  human  nature.  This 
is  the  garbled  account  which  I  have  read.  See  vol.  iii.  328,  &c. 
The  other  point  is  the  capture  of  the  sloop,  vi  et  armis,  of  the 
Quakers.  He  wriggles  and  twists  in  no  ordinary  degree.  But  the 
motions  are  natural,  for  he  feels  sore.  Vol.  iii.  341.  His  volumes 
are  written  in  a  plain  and  clear  style;  yet  has  that  luscious  full- 
ness and  that  tedious  minuteness  on  mere  trifles,  which  is  the  be- 
setting sin  of  Quaker  authors  and  preachers.  He  brings  down  the 
history  of  the  society  to  A.  D.  1764.  Each  volume  has  a  small  in- 
dex, and  they  neatly  printed.  No.  1922  octavo,  Phil.  Library. 

51.  iS'.  Father  gill.  "Life  and  travels  in  the  ministry."  He  was 
greatly  respected  by  all  who  knew  his  private  worth.  His  pro- 
ductions were  shallow  and  often  puerile.  No.  479  duod.  Phil.  Lib. 
He  died  in  A.  D.  1773. 


Ajjpendix  II.  25 

52.  A.  Bennezef.  "A  short  account  of  the  Quakers,  and  their  set- 
tlement in  America."  Phil.  pp.  44.  edit.  2.  The  most  remarkable 
thing  about  this  book  is,  that  it  has  seen  a  second  edition.  It  has 
no  claims  to  the  title  it  has  assumed.  It  contains  the  meagre  glean- 
ings of  a  man,  amiable  it  is  true,  but  superficially  acquainted  with 
his  subject.  The  most  striking  of  his  fanfarades  are  those  about 
liberty,  and  about  war.  Like  other  Quaker  authors,  he  very  un- 
fortunately does  not  touch  the  question.  See  p.  9,  10,  &c. 

53.  Antony  Furver  was  a  man  born  of  humble  parents,  but  of 
singular  powers  of  mind.  Though  compelled  to  labour  in  an  hum- 
ble sphere,  he  found  time  to  pursue  his  studies.  And  such  was 
the  application  of  this  wonderful  man ;  that,  notwithstanding  all  the 
untoward  circumstances  in  his  lot,  he  mastered  the  Hebrew^  and 
Greek  languages.  In  1764,  he  completed  his  new  translation  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments  from  the  original  languages.  It  was 
published  in  2  vols,  folio.  It  is  said  to  possess  great  simplicity  and 
is  remarkably  literal.  He  was  greatly  respected:  and  justly  stood 
very  high  as  a  preacher  in  the  society.  He  died,  much  lamented, 
in  1777. 

54.  Mrs.  Sophia  Hume.  "  Exhortation  to  the  inhabitants  of  Caro- 
lina." A.  D.  1747.  She  was  an  amiable  and  highly  accomplished 
lady.  But  she  committed  an  egregious  error  in  taking  up  polemi- 
cal theology  ;  and  in  becoming  a  teacher  of  men. 

55.  John  Woolmatv's  •'  Works."  The  repose  of  this  book  will 
not  be  disturbed. 

56.  Catharine  Philips^s  "  Journal." 

57.  Sarah  GrubWs  "  Journal." 

58.  Margaret  Lucases  "  Jouvna.lJ'^ 

59.  John  Gratlon'^s  "Journal." 

60.  Job  Scotth  "Journal."  This  is  the  journal  of  a  person  of 
respectable  talents.  Job  seems  to  have  revived  in  a  considerable 
degree,  the  mysticism  and  Unitarianism  of  the  1st  and  2d  periods. 

61.  31rs.  Harrison  of  Philadelphia,  was  a  very  worthy  lady.  She 
seems  to  have  set  down,  as  her  model,  the  venerable  mothers  of 
her  sect,  such  as  Dame  Margaret  Fell,  Dame  C.  Barclay,  Hannah 
Bernard,  Mary  Fisher,  E.  Bathurst,  Anne  Wright.  Like  these  she 
laboured  and  travelled  from  shore  to  shore  ;  and  with  a  zeal  becom- 
ing a  nobler  and  better  cause. 

62.  Mr.  Waring,  a  man  of  quiet  and  retired  habits,  but  a  pro- 
found philosopher.  Hedied  A.  D.  1793.  Miller's  Retrosp.  vol.  i.  45. 

4 


S6  Appendix  11. 

&\i.  John  Griffitli's  "Journal."  He  was  a  plain  and  honest  man : 
simple  and  mild  in  his  manners:  illiterate  and  much  infected  with 
enthusiasm.  In  his  peregrinations,  he  was  "  often  moved  to  testify 
against  undue  liberties."  He  needed  no  information.  He  knew 
all  worth  knowing  about  his  audience,  though  a  stranger  to  them. 
'•  Right  spirited  ministers  have  an  infulUble  guide  within,'"  said 
John,  "and  have  no  need  of  any  outward  guide  or  information  in  , 
their  services."  Jour.  p.  189.  See  Rathbone,  p.  TO.  This  is  about 
as  fair  a  specimen  of  their  Journals  as  I  can  find. 

64.  Rathbone,  formerly,  was  an  eminent  member  of  the  society. 
He  shows  himself  to  be  a  man  of  genteel  manners  and  cultivated 
mind.  There  is  an  air  of  uncommon  frankness  and  candour  in  all 
that  he  says.  He  wrote  "  A  narrative  of  events  in  Ireland  from 
A.  D.  1791  to  1803."  Himself  and  his  book  are  visible  and  strik- 
ing proofs  of  the  tendency  of  the  first  grand  tenet  of  the  society, 
immediate  revelations,  as  advocated  by  Barclay.  By  undervaluing 
the  sacred  word  of  God,  it  leads  to  deism.  Yet  such  is  the  state 
of  Quakerism  in  Ireland,  that  there  exists  no  evidence  that  Rath- 
bone  would  have  been  ejected  from  the  society  for  his  tenets,  had  he 
not  written  this  book  containing  such  plain,  blunt  tales  of  their 
management  behind  the  curtain. 

65.  Bristed.  "  The  society  of  Friends,  or  Quakers,  examined." 
Lond.  1805.  This  trifling  and  lumpish  book  has  been  noticed 
already.  Part  i.  sect.  31. 

66.  Clarksori's  "  Portrait  of  Quakerism."  Lond.  and  Phil.  3  vols. 
It  is  a  hurried  and  very  unfinished  production  both  as  to  matter  and 
manner.  He  has  paid  no  respect  to  the  true  opinions  of  the  sect, 
as  laid  down  in  the  volumes  of  their  ancients;  and  which  always 
must  be  the  test  of  orthodoxy,  as  long  as  they  venerate  their  claims 
(as  they  do)  to  divine  inspiration.  He  gives  us  the  uncertain 
gleanings  of  his  conversations  with  the  Friends.  He  is  a  dull  and 
heartless  writer:  and  yet  with  all  its  defects,  the  Friends  seem 
willing  that  it  should  become  popular.  I  would  recommend  it  as 
giving  the  best  portrait  of  their  civil  polity,  and  of  their  manners. 
But  its  delineations  of  their  theological  opinions,  or  of  the  religious 
character  of  the  society  are  extremely  meagre  and  unfair. 

67.  Tuke  wrote  "  The  principles  of  the  Quakers/'  See  Christ. 
Observer,  July  1814,  &c.  &c. 

68.  Richard  Mott,  a  distinguished  and  popular  preacher. 

69.  ^/ias  ^icA;^,  a  preacher  equally  popular,  if  not  superior.  The 


Appendix  tl.  S7 

following  extract  from  the  Chester  Plough  Boy  and  Sat.  Even. 
Post  of  Jan.  1,  1823,  of  a  sermon  of  Mr.  Hicks's,  will  afford  a  speci- 
men of  the  sentiments  of  their  present  ministry.  '-Children  have 
all  one  religion,  and  if  suffered  to  grow  up  together,  without  having 
any  of  the  doctrines  of  men  instilled  into  them,  there  would  be  but 
one  religion  in  the  world."*  "The  kingdom  of  lieaven  is  within 
you  ;  and  if  you  find  it  not  there,  before  death,  y«)u  will  hereafter 
look  for  it  in  vain.  Heaven  is  the  sure  and  natural  result  of  act- 
ing up  to  the  dictates  of  tlutt  God  in  man.  Hell  is  the  torment 
experienced  in  our  souls  consequent  on  the  transgression  of  these 
dictates."  He  "  preaches  no  mysteries."  "What  advantage  can 
it  be  to  any  one,  to  believe  in  what  he  cannot  understand."  "  The 
christian  religion  involves  no  mysteries,  &c." 

This  last  sentiment,  equally  repugnant  to  holy  writ,  and  to  the 
first  principles  of  reason  and  philosophy,  is  an  awkward  but  despe- 
rately feeble  hit  at  the  doctrine  of  the  most  Holy  Trinity,  which 
Penn  and  his  equally  misguided  followers  have  wantonly  dared  to 
exclude  from  their  system.  If  it  be  of  no  advantage  to  believe  ivhat 
we  cannot  understand,  then  is  it  of  no  advantage  to  believe  in  the 
being  of  the  Deity.  For  He,  as  well  as  tlie  manner  oi  his  existence 
in  Trinity,  is  infinitely  removed  beyond  our  finite  understanding. 
But  honest  Elias  is  no  philosoplier,  no  chemist,  no  theologian  ;and 
men  of  his  venerable  years  are,  every  where,  privileged  charac- 
ters ! 

*'  'O  Xsyoj  ifag/nay-nf  XuTrxi  ;  xat  «  !rei>.uXey/«  yDJccrof." 
"Speakings  is  the  solace  of  grief— an;l  gaiTulity  that  of  old  ag-e." 

He  has  been  severely  and  justly  blamed  of  late  for  the  stern 
heterodoxy  of  his  sentiments.  Some  of  his  friends  have  quoted  an 
obscure  author,  a  cotemporary  of  George  Fox,  William  Bailey  hy 
name,  to  prove  that  Elias  has  been  no  innovator  in  first  principles. 
His  friends  liave  been  guilty  of  a  double  fault  in  doing  this.  They 
have  disturbed  the  peaceful  sleep  of  the  dead.  Bailey  had  been 
entombed  in  oblivion.  Why  did  they  stir  the  dust  which  covered 
him  ^  In  quoting  this  man,  moreover,  they  have  hurt  their  cause. 
The  very  quotation  makes  the  Light,  and  the  Spirit,  and  Jesus  one 
and  the  same.     And  thus,  by  confounding,  or  denying  the  distinct 

•  We  shall  hear  of  some  philosopher  proposing  to  shut  up  children  by  them- 
selves to  ascertain  the  true  primitive  language.  But  he  must  not  permit  any 
goats  to  have  access  to  them  to  suckle  them. 


28  Appendix  II. 

persons  of  tl»e  most  holj  and  adorable  Trinity,  they  make  them- 
selves witnesses  that  Elias  Hieks  is,  like  his  predecessors,  Sabel- 
lian  or  Unitarian  !  *" 

70.  Priscilla  Hunt,  a  female  preacher,  who  has  lately  come  on 
the  boards  ;  and  has  attracted  much  public  attention.  In  the  yearly 
meeting  at  Philadelphia,  of  A.  D.  1823,  she  advocated  in  all  their 
extent,  the  sentiments  of  Elias  Kicks.  The  applause,  and  the  rich 
donations  which  she  received,  fully  prove  the  popularity  of  these 
doctrines  in  the  society  of  Friends. 

T  shall  conclude  with  a  brief  review  of  the  two  latest  writers,  and 
of  the  present  state  of  the  controversy. 

1.  "  Letters  of  Paul  and  Amicus,"  octavo,  pp.  512,  Wilmington. 
This  volume  contains  letters  first  published  in  the  Christian  Re- 
pository. "  Paul,"  a  zealous  and  able  advocate  of  the  doctrines  ot 
the  Reformed  churches,  came  out  against  the  Quakers.  His  chief 
design,  according  to  his  own  statement,  was  not  to  give  a  systematic 
defence  of  the  doctrines  of  tlie  Reformed  churches,  but  to  draw  oft' 
the  veil  from  the  real  doctrines  held  by  the  society  of  Friends,  and 
to  expose  them  to  the  view  of  the  Christian  public.  In  this  aim, 
he  has  succeeded  completely. 

"  Amicus,"  a  Friend  of  the  Foxonian  period,  and  well  skilled  in 
the  peculiar  doctrines  of  that  time,  came  forward  to  explain  and 
to  refute.  Like  "Paul"  he  came  en  masque.  And  the  dispute  was 
carried  on  vigorously  for  twenty-one  months! 

It  must  be  admitted,  that  serious  inconveniences  will  result  from 
the  disputes  of  polemics  en  masque.  One  very  obvious  one  is  this: 
when  heated  they  will  become  personal,  rude  and  scurrilous.  Hav- 
ing only  anonymous  characters  to  lose,  they  will  not  permit  public 
opinion  to  have  its  due  influence  in  checking  their  uncourteous 
sallies. 

But  I  mean  something  more  than  even  this,  when  I  say  that 
"Amicus"  comes  (\\\i  en  masque.  He  does  not,  and  he  v>UI  not 
bring  out  the  real  doctrines  of  the  society,  until  he  is  dared,  and 
pushed,  and  heated.  At  length,  he  does  come  out;  bluA  ivdhout 
mask. 

*•  Paul"  is  somewhat  feeble  on  baptism.  But  on  every  other  point 
he  defends  and  refutes  very  successfully.  And  he  goads  on  '•  Ami- 
cus" till  he  has  confessed  all  the  system  of  the  Friends. 

*  See  Bailey's  book  entitled, ".i  cominon  objection  answered  about  the  navie  of 
■/ems.'"  Old  edition. 


Jippendix  II.  29 

It  is  the  fullest  disclosure  which  we  have  in  the  modern  times  of 
the  society;  it  is  a  full  length  portrait  of  the  genuine  Quakerism 
of  the  old  school ;  it  exhibits  the  correctness  of  every  charge  which 
I  have  brought  against  them  out  of  their  books.  And  if  the  society 
adhere  to  Fox,  and  Penn  and  Barclay  ;  if,  in  fact,  the  modern 
Friends  hold  to  the  testimony  of  their  ancient  elders,  they  must 
acknowledge  the  doctrines  of  "  Amicus"  as  their  orthodox  doctrines. 
To  blame  these,  would  be  to  blame  the  inspirations  of  Fox  and 
Penn;  to  condemn  these,  would  be  to  condemn  all  the  Friends  of 
the  first  "  convincement.^^  None,  therefore,  in  their  last  annual 
meeting,  blamed  "Amicus,"  but  those  (better  informed  men  I 
readily  admit  them  to  be,)  who  are  receding  from  genuine  Quaker- 
ism, and  are  approaching  the  Reformed  churches. 

On  the  subject  of  the  Holy  Sacraments,  "Amicus"  exhibits  little 
solidity  of  argument:  while  the  decencies  and  courtesy  of  modern 
polemics,  I  am  constrained  to  say,  seem  to  have  been  thrown  off 
at  the  very  entrance  of  the  arena.  He  actually  denies  that  our 
Lord  ordained  either  baptism  by  water,  or  any  supper  whatever, 
different  from  the  passover  ! 

After  denying  that  he  is  opposed  to  missions,  he  manifests,  in 
the  progress  of  the  discussions,  that  decided  and  deadly  hostility 
to  our  missions  and  Bible  societies,  which  reigns  in  the  society  as 
a  body :  and  which  every  one  who  has  studied  their  tenets,  knuws 
to  be  combined  with  the  very  elements  of  their  system.  See 
"  Amicus's"  first  letters,  and  his  letters  on  the  Internal  Light,  and 
"  Paul's"  statements,  p.  23,  &c. 

In  his  letters  on  "  Internal  Light,^'  "  Amicus"  rejects  from  his 
system  the  doctrine  of  the  exclusive  superiority  and  necessity  of 
a  written  revelation.  The  scriptures,  as  usual,  he  makes  a  second- 
ary rule,  and  inferior  to  the  light  in  the  human  mind.  And  when 
pressed  hard  by  his  able  antagonist,  he  brings  out  unsparingly  their 
well  known  ancient  doctrine  in  these  words:  "-Deists  and  pagans 
are  partakers  of  saving  grace,^^  all  having  the  Christ  within,  as  well 
as  christians.  See  p.  283.  He  actually  rails  at  Christendom.  «'The 
religion  of  Christendom,"  says  he,  "  is  falsely  called  the  christian 
religion,"  p.  298.  And  according  to  this  charitable  and  enlight- 
ened christian,  so  far  are  the  morals  of  pagans  superior  to  those  of 
the  christians  that  (I  use  his  own  words,)  "those  called  heathens, 
savages,  idolaters,  have  far  outstripped  professing  christians  in 
divine  works  of  mercy,  justice  and  truth  !"  p.  268,  269,  272. 


30  Appendix  IT. 

The  doctrine  of  the  most  Holy  Trinity  "  Amicus"  denies  in  lan- 
guage the  most  revolting  to  a  christian's  feelings,  and  outrageous 
to  tlie  common  decencies  and  courtesy  of  society.  For  charity, 
alas  !  he  seems  to  put  it  out  of  the  question.  The  following  is  a 
specimen.  "  To  adore  the  triune  God  is  to  adore  the  unknown  God." 
p.  394.  '•  The  tliree  persons  are  tliree  gods,  or  three  nothings." 
p.  338.  The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  irrational,  absurd  and  mon- 
strous, p.  403,  423.  This  doctrine  "  makes  Jehovah  ajinite  mortah 
the  Deity  an  unsubstantial  Beings  and  the  Saviour  the  third  part  of 
a  monstrous  divinity  P^  p.  423.  Sec  also  his  letters  37  and  38,  and 
the  preface  p.  viii. 

On  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement  he  is  equally  violent ;  having 
made  the  terms  '•  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost"  to  mean  one  and 
the  same  thing  :  having  denied  the  relation  of  Father  and  Son,  he 
takes  away  all  possibility  of  an  atonement.  Accordingly  he  denies, 
in  bitter  terms,  an  atonement  by  the  sutteringsand  death  of  a  divine 
person.  But  he  advocates  an  atonement  precisely  of  the  nature 
described  by  me  in  Part  II.  preceding. 

That  this  tends  to  deism  is  obvious  from  the  following  words  of 
"  Amicus."  "  The  salvation  of  the  soul  is  effected,  not  by  that 
which  Christ  did  for  us  in  his  outward  and  temporary  manifesta- 
tion, nor  by  any  imputation  of  his  righteousness  or  merits."  p.  478. 
He  shows  afterwards,  that  their  sanctification  or  inward  righteous- 
ness, is  the  cause  of  their  justification  and  salvation,  p.  499. 

Thus  from  documents  of  the  most  satisfactory  kind,  the  christian 
public  can  judge  of  the  charges  brought  against  the  society  by 
"Paul,"  and  by  myself,*  that  they  luwe  rejected  from  their  system 
the  peculiar  and  essential  doctrines  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  If  the 
Unitarians  be  entitled  to  the  name  of  christians,  then  have  the 
Friends  also  a  right  to  it  I 

There  are  In  "  Paul's"  letters  some  instances  of  harshness  and 
asperity.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  one  who  could  command  such 
an  overwhelming  force  of  argument,  should  yield  to  the  provoca- 
tions and  bulhjings  of  his  adversary.  But  with  all  his  blemishes, 
(and  which  of  us  is  free  of  them  })  he  is  an  able  champion  in  the 
cause  of  truth.  He  is  evidently  a  youthful  writer.  And  when  he 
is  matured  iu  years  and  experience,  the  church  will  certainly  call 

♦  On  this  union  of  sentiment  I  beg  leave  to  state,  that  my  MS.  was  in  the 
bands  of  my  pubhsher,  before  1  saw  the  letters  of  Paul  and  Amicus. 


Apj^endLv  II.  31 

upon  him  to  resume  his  able  pen  in  the  great  conflict  with  this  class 
of  Unitarians. 

The  whole  manner  of  "  Amicus,"  indicates  a  vigorous  mind  and 
considerable  reading.  But  he  has  not  digested  well  what  he  has 
read  :  nor  has  he  read  enough.  He  was,  in  fact,  not  ready  for  this 
conflict  with  "  Paul."  His  reading  has  been  too  much  on  the  one 
side.  He  knows  not  the  true  sentiments  of  the  Trinitarians  :  or, 
to  say  the  least,  he  has  not  employed  his  knowledge  of  them  as  he 
ouaht  to  have  done.  He  is  warm  from  the  moment  he  leaves  the 
starting  post.  In  each  succeeding  letter  he  waxes  hotter  and 
hotter,  until  he  becontes  really  offensive  and  often  disgusting.  And 
not  unfrequentlv,  when  the  ideas  of  "  mhsionary  exertions,''^  "  and 
Bible  societies^''''  and  a  "  mercenary  IdreUng  miniHtry^^  come  athwart 
his  heated  imagination,  he  actually  raves  !  p.  288,  289,  40'1, 415,  &c. 

The  style  of  '"Amicus"  partakes  much  of  the  "  tedious,  luscious 
way  of  Penn."  He  often  exhausts  the  patience  of  his  antagonist 
and  his  reader.  And  what  is  worse  for  his  cause,  he  weakens  the 
force  of  his  own  arguments  by  an  eternal  verbosity  :  while  he  leavies 
himself  neither  room,  nor  time,  to  reply  to  the  main  arguments  of 
his  opponent.  His  tedious,  dry  way  is  little  calculaterl  to  carry 
conviction  into  the  heart.  He  proses  his  reader  almost  to  death, 
at  one  time,  and  at  another,  he  dissipates  the  ennui  by  feelings 
excited  by  his  barefaced  misrepresentations,  or  his  sallies  of  ven- 
geance. He  disgusts  the  man  of  letters  by  his  want  of  taste:  and 
he  lacerates  the  feelings  of  the  pious  christian  bv  language  uttered 
with  lightness,  and  certainly  very  uncharitable;  and,  to  say  the 
least,  bordering  on  the  boldest  blasphemy  !  See  his  preface  p.  viii. 
and  p.  423.  And  indeed  the  whole  of  the  letter  on  the  Trinity  and 
the  atnnement. 

2.  Vindex  in  his  "Truth  vindicated  in  six  letters  to  the  Pres- 
byterians." He  has  gone  over  much  of  the  samp  ground,  (see  let- 
ters 2d  and  3d.)  He  has  advanced  the  same  tenets  in  substance. 
And  he  exhibits  two  much  of  the  style  and  spirit  of  '»  Amicus." 
Like  the  other  two,  he  fights  c?i  masque;  being  either  unwilling,  or 
else  not  daring  to  show  his  face  in  defence  of  what  he  says. 


THE  END, 


ERRATA. 


rxo% 

riKH 

for 

6 

12 

opposers 

— 

32 

natural 

35 

15 

Ayresmore 

36 

35 

child 

38 
39 

1] 

frock 

34  ( 

or  42*                      note 

89 

47 

24 

Celaus 

48 

9,  12,  15 

corporal 

50 

27 

questions 

— 

33 

weak 

52 

4 

descent 

54 

14 

forms 

56 

3 

after  infiuer 

.58 

26 

true 

67  68  69  70  83            notes 

sec. 

69 

do. 

Jewel 

n 

11 

73 

8 

joining: 

do 

9 

affected 

74 

note 

insiduous 

75 

note  line  18 

A.  D,  1611 

81 

14 

88 

note  bottom  line 

Poet 

]06 

13 

arts 

185 

7  from  the  bottom 

Therians 

188 

17 

after  "para 

193 

15 

«  pled" 

202 

4  from  the  bottom  note 

"  too" 

230 

7 

Juke 

257 

25 

now 

258 

3  from  bottom 

Tu. 

APPENDIX, 

2 

6  from  bottom 

4 

1 

Turieu 

read 
oppressors 
national. 
Ayrsmoss. 
chielde. 

pock. 

8,9. 

Celsus. 

corporeal 

quotations. 

heathen. 

ascent. 

fame, 
whom. 

free. 

vol. 

Sewel. 

Famsworth. 

gaining 

effected. 

insidious. 

A.  D.  1681. 

Muscovegfian . 

Part. 

acts 

Iberians 
,  "  saving." 

"plod." 

"  the." 

Tuke. 

was. 

Jur. 

"puerilities." 
Jurieu. 


•  There  i»  an  error  in  tlie  papng.  See  34,  &c. 


COLUMBIA   UNIVE^^''  Tv   LjgT- 


DATE    DUE 

L;t_oU  ^ 

uUW'J 

jkl*- 

>jn 

/t  O  ')nn 

*> 

Pf!  f 

\f  '  ,1  /I Ml 

1 

GAYLORD 

PRINTED  IN  USA. 

COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 


003848691 1 


B8Z- 


<1 

UJ 

rf' 

^ 

o 

a 

r- 

^-H 

a 

o 

r^ 

z 

f^ 

»M 

o 

O 

o 

f>^ 

►-* 

a* 

u 

o 

CO  fvj 

r*.  CO 


LU 


JUN  3 


ISii 


